Buckeye Reporter

Ohio Gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci is criticizing incumbent Governor Mike DeWine for refusing to participate in political debates.

DeWine has refused to participate in a gubernatorial debate hosted by the Ohio Debate Commission (ODC), the Ohio Capital Journal reported. The ODC announced that no other candidates have turned down the invitation, and the debates will still take place. They are scheduled to occur on March 28 and 29 at Central State University in Wilberforce.

"Mike DeWine has spent his term governing like a blue state liberal — shuttering our economy, irreparably harming our kids' access to education, trashing Donald Trump, and turning Ohio into ground zero for public corruption," Renacci said in a statement on his website. "And now he's refusing to answer for any of it. As a pro-Trump, committed conservative who has a clear plan to lead Ohio out of the mess DeWine has created, I'm not surprised he's terrified to debate me. But what does shock me is that Governor DeWine thinks so little of the countless Ohio families whose lives he's harmed, futures he's ruined, and businesses he's destroyed, that he won't even take the debate stage to attempt to justify it — let alone apologize for it."

Renacci continued, "A gubernatorial debate without the governor is not a gubernatorial debate. As I've said repeatedly, Ohioans deserve far better than this — and that's why I'm committed to defeating DeWine and delivering the accountable conservative leadership we desperately need." 

In a press release from Renacci's campaign, the gubernatorial candidate laid out several questions he'd like to see DeWine answer: "Why did your appointees to the Ohio Board of Education vote to inject Critical Race Theory into Ohio schools, and why are you refusing to do anything about Critical Race Theory now? Do you believe there was substantial voter fraud in the 2020 election? Why do you always avoid answering this question? Why are you refusing to do anything to help Ohioans weather the gas-price crisis? Why is Ohio ranked as one of the least competitive states in the entire country after four years of your leadership, and why is our state lagging behind other Republican-led states in job creation? Why do you have 'no regrets' about the hundreds of thousands of jobs you killed by bucking President Trump's guidance and locking down Ohio?"

Renacci pointed out that seven of the eight Ohio State School Board members appointed by DeWine support Critical Race Theory (CRT) and have voted for it to be added to the curriculum, according to The Ohio Star.

Ohio Republicans have proposed reducing Ohio's gas taxes over the next five years until they are at 28 cents per gallon for both gasoline and diesel, Axios reported. DeWine opposes this reduction, saying the taxes are needed for Ohio's infrastructure. When DeWine first took office, he increased the gas tax, which currently stands at 38.5 cents per gallon for regular fuel and 47 cents for diesel.

A December report from the Tax Foundation ranked Ohio in the bottom 10 for both corporate taxes and individual income taxes.

The Columbus Dispatch reported in March 2021 that Ohio lost 892,300 jobs in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the unemployment rate hit a state record of 16.4% in April 2020.

DeWine has "no regrets" about his Covid mitigation measures, as reported by WKXA.

Renacci is a businessman and former U.S. representative for the 16th congressional district running against DeWine, a fellow Republican, in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary on May 3.