“When Washington goes too far and encroaches on our constitutional rights, as attorney general, I will be there to defend Ohio,” DeWine said to applause from hundreds of supporters packed into the Statehouse Rotunda and lining stairways leading to the House and Senate chambers.
In the interview, DeWine said the challenge to the health care law is an example of how he will conduct himself as attorney general.
“If I think the federal government is intruding on Ohio’s rights, then I will take action,” said DeWine, sworn in by his son, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Pat DeWine.
The challenge sets De- Wine of Cedarville apart from outgoing Democratic Attorney General Richard Cordray, whom DeWine defeated, and drew a rebuke from Rep. Clayton Luckie, D-Dayton, senior member of the Montgomery County legislative delegation.
“It’s not a good idea,” Luckie said. It wastes time and resources at a time when Ohio faces a two-year budget deficit estimated as high as $8 billion, he said.
DeWine said there are good parts to the health care bill, but that the mandate that every American must have health insurance is unconstitutional.
“We need to go back to the drawing board and pass a bipartisan bill,” said De- Wine, a former U.S. senator.
He will request that Ohio be added to 20 states challenging the law in the U.S. District Court for the northern district of Florida.
For Husted of Kettering the swearing-in ceremony as the state’s chief elections officer was a homecoming in the Ohio House chambers, where he served for eight years, four as speaker. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor administered the oath.
“I hope to make you proud,” Husted said.
Republican Gov.-elect John Kasich, who was sworn in just after midnight today, attended both ceremonies.
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