‘I am the pro-Trump candidate, Mike DeWine is the anti-Trump candidate.’ – Jim Renacci to the Toledo Blade

“The majority of Ohioans do want a pro-Trump Republican who’s going to take the Trump policies and implement them in Ohio."

Wadsworth, OH - The Toledo Blade made it clear this weekend that Republican Gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci is the clear "pro-Trump" candidate in the race for governor. While Mike DeWine has opposed President Trump and his supporters on fighting election fraud and the pandemic lockdowns, Jim Renacci has been a vocal champion for the Trump movement in Ohio and will lead the state as a Trump-supporting, America First conservative.

Toledo Blade: Renacci fashions himself as Ohio's "pro-Trump" governor

In his quest for re-election in November, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is facing an aggressive challenge for the Republican nomination from former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R., Wadsworth).

Mr. Renacci has trained a steady stream of social media criticism at the governor, much of it seems calculated to stir up and attract support from the Republican base that is expected to turn out avidly in the primary elections, currently scheduled for May 3.

Like most of Ohio’s Republican Senate candidates, he is going all-in on attaching his campaign to former President Donald Trump.

“The majority of Ohioans do want a pro-Trump Republican who’s going to take the Trump policies and implement them in Ohio,” Mr. Renacci said. “Jim Renacci is a pro-Trump candidate, Mike DeWine is an anti-Trump candidate.”

 

Not long after the November 2020 election, Mr. Trump made it known that he’s keeping a close eye on Ohio after Mr. DeWine was among the Republicans who recognized Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

“Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio? Will be hotly contested!” Mr. Trump tweeted on Nov. 16, 2020.

Mr. Renacci has voiced his own concerns about upholding election integrity. Last year, he served on the Medina County Board of Elections to better understand the process. He said that he feels Ohio has a better system than other states, but there were issues with the election in 2020 overall.

“Even though we have a good system in Ohio where Republicans and Democrats together monitor and look at elections, I think we need to have an outside firm come in and look at those same elections,” he said.

He continued to say that he would be in favor of implementing a more stringent voter ID system and that he would want external audits to take place at least every four years.

 

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One area where Republicans have been especially critical of Governor DeWine has been his response to the coronavirus pandemic, claiming that his masking and lockdown policies have been too restrictive and a detriment to Ohio’s economy. Mr. Renacci said that he is not in favor of any mask or virus vaccine mandate.

Mr. Renacci has also criticized the governor’s decision to raise the gas tax by 10.5 cents back in 2019, saying that Ohio has been run like a “blue state.”

“Whether it was masking mandates, whether it was gas tax increases, whether it’s spending, everything he’s done in this state has put us really in the bottom 12 or 15 states in the country,” Mr. Renacci said.