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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
DeWine launches bid for attorney general
XENIA — Red, white and blue “I Like Mike” campaign buttons decorated the shirts of Mike DeWine’s extended family when they gathered for the announcement he was re-igniting his political career.
DeWine spoke in a courtroom packed with family, friends and former colleagues, the same Greene County Common Pleas courtroom where he served as prosecutor, his first elected office, 33 years ago.
“Mike is a prosecutor at heart, and that’s why we’re here today,” said his wife of 42 years Fran DeWine. DeWine served as Greene County prosecutor before being elected to state and national office. He lost a re-election bid for a third Senate term in 2006 to Democrat Sherrod Brown.
The totality of his law enforcement and political experiences, DeWine said, prepared him to be Ohio’s next top cop. “I’m running for attorney general because Ohio is in crisis,” he said. “The attorney general must take the lead and fight back.”
DeWine highlighted problems with gangs, drugs and a shortage of crime-fighting resources in his kickoff speech. He also said he would bring honor back to the office. Former Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann left the post in 2008 besieged by scandal. “The attorney general must be above reproach. The attorney general must be above politics,” he said.
DeWine planned similar speeches in Columbus and Cleveland Wednesday. He’ll have plenty of politicking to do before November 2010. DeWine will have primary opposition from Delaware County Prosecutor David Yost, who in a statement, said he has the support of 70 percent of Republican prosecutors across the state. The GOP winner in May 2010 will face incumbent Democrat Richard Cordray, who was elected in November to replace Dann.
Seth Bringman, Ohio Democratic Party spokesman, extended a welcome to the race to DeWine with a shot at his previous policies. “The choices in this race couldn’t be clearer,” Bringman said in a statement. “Rich Cordray is working hard to fix the mess in our financial regulation system that Mike DeWine helped create. Rich Cordray is working to hold the same Wall Street corporations accountable that Mike DeWine sided with in the U.S. Senate. Given these realities, it’s hard to imagine what DeWine’s campaign plan will be.”
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