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Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine (born January 5, 1947) is an American politician from Ohio. Born in Springfield, Ohio, to Irish-American parents, DeWine earned a bachelor's degree from Miami University in Ohio in 1969 and a Juris Doctor degree from Ohio Northern University. He and his wife Frances have had eight children, one of whom is dead. Hamilton County, Ohio, Commissioner R. Patrick DeWine is Mike DeWine's son. Ohio state representative Kevin DeWine (R-Fairborn) is DeWine's second cousin.
Political career DeWine worked as a prosecutor before entering politics. He served a term in the Ohio State Senate before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1982. He was re-elected three times, serving for a total of eight years. In 1990, he left the House and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, and served in that position from 1991 to 1995. While Lieutenant Governor, he failed in a bid to unseat Senator John Glenn in 1992. In 1994, DeWine was elected to the United States Senate, defeating prominent attorney Joel Hyatt (the son-in-law of the then-incumbent U.S. Sen. Howard Metzenbaum). DeWine was reelected in 2000, defeating former U.S. Rep. Frank Cremeans in the primary and Ted Celeste (brother of former Ohio Gov. Richard F. Celeste) in the general election. Social issues DeWine is pro-life (except in cases of incest, danger to the life of the mother, and some rape). He voted in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment but opposed State Issue 1, Ohio's Defense of Marriage Amendment. DeWine is a supporter of gun control laws, and in 2004 he co-sponsored an amendment to renew the ban on common semi-automatic weapons. This earned him 'F' ratings from the National Rifle Association and Gun Owners of America. On July 29 2005 he was one of only two Republican senators to vote against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which banned lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors, and dealers for criminal misuse of their products. DeWine has also broken with his party on issues such as funding for Head Start programs, the federal minimum wage, and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). On March 31 2006 DeWine came out in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage, but he has been criticized by conservatives who accuse him of "flip-flopping" to shore up conservative support. A response by DeWine to a letter from a constituent, regarding his support for a guest worker program, was decried by conservative activists. 2005 filibuster After President George W. Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers on October 3 2005 for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, DeWine said "I think the fact she doesn't have judicial experience will add to the diversity of the Supreme Court... There is no reason everyone has to have that same (judicial) background." Opposition from conservative groups unhappy with Miers' resume ultimately sank her nomination. Domestic spying DeWine currently sits on both the Senate Judiciary and Select Intelligence committees. His votes have been instrumental in protecting President Bush from being investigated for domestic spying and passing the USA PATRIOT Act. Controversy and criticism
2006 re-election campaign DeWine faced conservative Republican challengers William G. Pierce and David R. Smith for the nomination of the Republican Party in the May 2006 primary. DeWine won with 71.82% of the votes. DeWine's Democratic opponent in the November general election is Congressman Sherrod Brown of northeast Ohio, who won 78.05% of Democrats' votes in the primary, defeating truck driver Merrill Samuel Keiser, Jr. * Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett dropped out of the Democratic race earlier in the election cycle. Most political watchers believe DeWine is one of the Senate's most vulnerable incumbents in Senate 2006 elections. Democrats looking to win back the Senate are pouring resources into the race while the GOP is working hard to retain Senate control. John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party said, "It's vitally important to the Republican Party as a whole, so I think that's why you see the President coming to Ohio to support Mike DeWine". Conservative Republicans countered that they could not support any Republican as liberal and "out of touch" with conservative values as DeWine. Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said, "Mike DeWine is in for the fight of his life, make no mistake about it". A poll released on October 10, 2006, by the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron showed that DeWine maintains a very slight lead at 1.3 percent among all voters, which is within a three-point margin of error. Among likely voters, the poll has DeWine ahead by a mere 0.2 percent, again well within the margin of error. According to an article in the October 16, 2006, edition of The New York Times, top Republican party officials on the national level have determined that DeWine will probably be defeated and are moving financial support from his race to other Republican senatorial candidates they feel are more likely to win. Two polls released on October 17, 2006, both show DeWine trailing challenger Brown. The Quinnipiac University Poll shows Brown leading DeWine, 53 to 41 percent. The other, the University of Cincinnati's "Ohio Poll," showed Brown at 52 percent and DeWine at 45 percent. The worst poll is a recent Survey USA poll which shows DeWine behind by 20 points. See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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