Jim Renacci to Newsmax: Gov. DeWine Running Ohio Like a Democrat

Ohio, famously a presidential election bellwether state, went with President Donald Trump in 2020 to stay red, but gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci on Newsmax is taking incumbent GOP Gov. Mike DeWine to task for his COVID-19 lockdowns.

"It's run by a Republican governor, but really, he's been running it like a Democrat governor, so it makes it pretty simple," Renacci told host Rob Schmitt in an exclusive town hall Wednesday at Ohio Wesleyan University's Chappelear Drama Center in Delaware, Ohio.

Renacci, a former U.S. representative who served Ohio's 16th Congressional District, is running to unseat DeWine in the May 3 primary. Renacci took particular aim at DeWine for running historically conservative Ohio like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was running deep-blue New York during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If you look at what he did, he ran the state like Cuomo," Renacci told Schmitt in a town hall that was supposed to be a debate, but DeWine declined the invitation. "When it came to lockdowns and shutdowns, he was right there with New York and California.

"What made it worse, he was on CNN with Cuomo laughing about it too often," he added.

"So, if you look at his policies, we're really not running as a Republican state. We're running more as a Democrat state."

Renacci also noted that DeWine came into the governor's office and immediately raised the gas tax, something that has come front and center amid soaring inflation and gasoline prices under President Joe Biden.

"This governor, the first thing he did when he became governor is he raised the gas tax," Renacci said. "And what I have said, there's so much federal money, let's take that federal money, let's eliminate the gas tax, so that hardworking Ohioans get a chance to save a little bit of money."

Renacci also rebuked DeWine for his Vax-a-Million program, which gave away five individual $1 million prizes to those who merely got vaccinated against COVID-19, a Biden initiative.

"We had a governor who did a contest: You get a million dollars if you get the vaccination," Renacci said. "Why don't we take that money and make sure that business and hardworking families are getting that money?"

In the first question from the gallery, Renacci said DeWine "did everything wrong" in his COVID-19 response in Ohio.

"He took away our rights, No. 1," Renacci said. "No. 2, he didn't work with the House and Senate. No. 3, he believed that he was king and he could just do anything that he wanted. He has shuttered 40% of our businesses by not understanding that, yes, there was a COVID issue, but there's also economic issues."

Renacci vowed to work with the House and Senate in the state Legislature and not say, "I'm king and everybody else answers to me."

Renacci also called out DeWine on his stance on abortion, appointing a pair of what he called "pro-abortion" medical directors.

"We have a governor who says he's pro-life and he appoints a pro-abortion medical director: He lost his 'life' card right there," Renacci said. "There's no way he's pro-life."

While both of those medical directors stepped down and DeWine signed a bill that restricts abortions if fetal cardiac activity can be detected, Renacci said "actions speak louder than words."

"It's one of the reasons Gov. DeWine should never get elected again, because what he does is, he flip-flops on what election he's in," Renacci said. "He's in a primary now, which is why he signed constitutional carry.

"This guy is a walking flip-flopper," he added. "He's a guy that's going to flip, depending on what election he's in.

"When he's elected, he governs as a Democrat. We see it now in the governor's race. It's one of the reasons why I'm running. I don't think people need a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat. They need a choice between a Democrat and a true Republican, and that would be me."

Renacci noted that "incumbents win 97%" of the time, but "bad incumbents get beat."

And asked if he would support DeWine in the general election in November if he were to win the primary, Renacci responded with a quip.

"The easier decision is I am definitely going to support myself after I win on May 3," Renacci said.

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