Buckeye Reporter

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is refusing to participate in the Ohio Debate Commission March 29 nonpartisan gubernatorial debate, according to the Buckeye Reporter.                    

Following  DeWine’s refusal to participate, the campaign of Jim Renacci, who is challenging DeWine in the Republican primary, said he would also not participate, the Associated Press reported.

“There is no such thing as a gubernatorial debate without the governor,”  Renacci campaign spokesperson Tom Weyand said, AP reported. “Jim will show up on any stage that the governor is on to discuss any issue.”        

Another Republican candidate, Ron Hood, never answered the debate invitation, which would have left farmer Joe Blystone as the only candidate at the debate, the story said.

DeWine told reporters that he turned down this year's debate because he felt it would be "entertaining," but not "productive." DeWine also refused to debate Republican Mary Taylor in  2018. 

The Republican gubernatorial debate has now been canceled, but the Democratic debate will still take place on March 29 at Central State University's Paul Robeson Cultural & Performing Arts Center, the story said.

Renacci's campaign maintains that Renacci is willing to debate without a live audience, or in any format to which the governor would agree.     

"Ohioans need to see an honest debate among grown-ups before they vote," Renacci said in a statement. "Call it a policy discussion or whatever. Mike DeWine needs to answer important policy questions, and Blystone needs to prove that he isn’t a sideshow to weaken the anti-DeWine vote.  We just need a moderator. We don’t need a live audience, we don’t even need to be on TV.  We could use radio, livestream, or meet at a church. A gubernatorial race needs a gubernatorial debate, and a gubernatorial debate needs a governor, not a coward who’s hiding from the voters who put him in office."  

DeWine will face off against Renacci, Blystone and Hood in the May 3 Republican gubernatorial primary. The winner will go on to appear on ballots for the general election on Nov. 8.

Renacci, 63, represented Ohio's 16th Congressional District in Congress from 2011 to 2019. He later endorsed Donald Trump over then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the 2016  primary for president.