DeWine criticizes Cordray for backing Issue 1
Calling it the most distinctive issue in the 2018 Ohio governor’s race, Republican Mike DeWine questioned the fundamental judgment of Democratic opponent Rich Cordray for backing state Issue 1.
While the attorney general has challenged Cordray on the measure before, during Thursday night’s Franklin County GOP Slate Dinner, DeWine pointed to a section of the measure that would allow the sentences of all but the most serious offenders to get sliced by up to a quarter by “participating” in prison programs.
He read a list of crimes subject to the lowered sentences, including aggravated robbery and burglary, kidnapping, human trafficking and child pornography.
DeWine told the few hundred present that he has prosecuted child pornographers, including those who keep videos of children being raped, and “these people need to be gone.”
He did not mention whether he would back an Issue 1 alternative developed by GOP Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien and Democratic Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein.
Cordray campaign spokesman Mike Gwin responded with this statement:
“Rich is behind any plan that would help us expand treatment for those suffering from addiction and focus our law-enforcement resources on the violent criminals we need to put behind bars and the drug dealers we need to drive out of Ohio.
“As we learned (Thursday), deaths from the opioid epidemic have quadrupled under Mike DeWine’s watch as attorney general — and he has been especially disastrous in allowing drug traffickers to flood this state with fentanyl, where the death toll has exploded from 77 per year to 3,431 last year. Rich supports any reform measure, including Issue 1, that moves us away from the failed status quo that has not helped Ohio effectively combat this crisis.”
DeWine said Cordray is becoming more and more isolated as additional groups and office-seekers come out in opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment — including Democratic attorney general candidate Steve Dettelbach and the Fraternal Order of Police, which has endorsed Cordray.
“If there’s any example that shows the difference between the candidates, it certainly is this one. And I think it really comes down to a question of judgment,” DeWine said.
Jane Timken, chair of the Ohio Republican Party, went even further in a later speech.
“Republicans are committed to ending the opioid epidemic, but top Democrats like Richard Cordray support a dangerous plan that would make it worse by supporting Issue 1.”
The Stark County attorney said needed prison reform “can’t be at the expense of creating a drug dealer’s dream. We would be the No. 1 state in the country to perform a drug deal.”
Issue 1 would not change drug trafficking laws, but Timken still outlined a scenario where a drug dealer from Pennsylvania would cross the state line because the only possible consequence would be a misdemeanor with no jail time.
She also said, “We need to remind people that it is Republican leadership that makes our country great, makes the state of Ohio great.”