COLUMBUS – Three years ago, former U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci dropped out of the governor's race to run a half-hearted U.S. Senate bid.
Now he's back to challenge incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine.
"Ohio cannot afford for Mike DeWine to be the governor anymore," Renacci said in a Wednesday interview. "My path may have been diverted in 2018 but my will really to change Ohio was not."
Renacci, 62, of Wadsworth, is banking on Republicans' anger toward DeWine, who closed businesses, schools and even the polls to slow the spread of COVID-19. For some Republicans, Ohio would have been better off with a governor like South Dakota's Kristi Noem or Florida's Ron DeSantis who imposed few restrictions.
Renacci, who announced his bid on WTAM 1100, said he never would have hired Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton, who early in the pandemic "guestimated" that 100,000 Ohioans had already contracted COVID-19.
"That was a scare tactic. That scared people," Renacci said.
DeWine's hold on the GOP electorate has some cracks. Conservative activists have protested DeWine's health orders outside his Cedarville home. DeWine's running mate Jon Husted was booed at a then-President Donald Trump rally for recommending masks. A Republican lawmaker even tried to impeach DeWine.
"In Mike DeWine's Ohio, our state has lost ground. Corruption is up. We're ranked No. 1 and our state can't compete in the national economy," said Renacci, referencing the arrest of former Speaker Larry Householder and the FBI search of a DeWine-appointed utility regulator.
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