Who is Mike DeWine, the Republican Ohio governor who has called for an end to the death penalty?
Jun 16, 2026, 1:05 PM | Updated: 2:40 pm
FILE - Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine talks with former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel while standing on the sideline prior to the start of an NFL football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Kirk Irwin, File)
Credit: AP Photo/Kirk Irwin
(AP Photo/Kirk Irwin, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday used his bully pulpit to call for an end to the death penalty in Ohio.
The 79-year-old Republican cited his expertise on the issue as a former county prosecutor, member of both chambers of Congress and Ohio attorney general, as well as his seven years as governor.
But DeWine’s support for a policy change is far from assured to make waves, even in a state controlled by his own party. That’s because DeWine is more moderate than many younger Republicans in the state, whose political aspirations rely on endorsements from President Donald Trump, a staunch death penalty supporter.
Here’s a closer look at DeWine and his place in Ohio’s political landscape:
DeWine was first elected to public office in 1976, when he became prosecuting attorney in Greene County, where he grew up. He still lives in the historic home there where he and his wife, who had eight children, hosted a summer ice cream social each year to encourage and celebrate GOP candidates and officeholders. The event ended its 50-year run just last weekend.
When DeWine was elected to the state Senate in 1980, Ohio had no death penalty law. The old one had been declared unconstitutional and DeWine was instrumental in writing the new one, which cleared both legislative chambers with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. It’s been in effect now since 1981.
He said Tuesday that he always believed the moral justification for the death penalty was its potential to deter violent crime.
During his four terms in the U.S. House, DeWine supported federal legislation signed by President Ronald Reagan that expanded the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty. As a U.S. senator, he backed a bill signed by President Bill Clinton that attempted to speed up the review of capital cases in federal courts.
In between those positions, DeWine was lieutenant governor of Ohio under storied Republican Gov. James Rhodes.
He took a brief break from politics after losing a Senate reelection bid to Democrat Sherrod Brown in 2006, before being elected Ohio attorney general in 2010. In that role, he said Tuesday, he “vigorously” carried out the state’s death penalty law.
Since he became governor in 2019, problems obtaining lethal injection drugs have led to an unofficial moratorium on executions in the state, which last conducted one in 2018.
DeWine may be the titular head of the Ohio Republican Party, but that doesn’t mean his party always listens to him. Particularly in the Trump era, he has presided over a party rife with internal divisions.
Clashes became particularly fierce during the COVID-19 pandemic, when DeWine and then-state Health Director Amy Acton — now the Democratic nominee for governor — presided over one of the most rigorous virus responses in the country in early 2020. Within months, a faction of Republicans had mutinied against DeWine’s mandates, particularly over business closures, threatening to pass a bill limiting his powers or even to impeach him.
In 2023, after DeWine struck down a ban on gender-affirming care and transgender athletes participating in girls’ sports, the Republican-dominated state Legislature easily overrode his veto.
The divisions have also been seen in this year’s critical elections.
DeWine had tried to position popular former Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel as a potential successor, appointing the moderate Republican as lieutenant governor last year. But the state GOP rushed to back Trump-endorsed biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy in the race in May 2025, before Tressel had even made up his mind whether to run. DeWine endorsed Ramaswamy in January.
DeWine said Tuesday that he had not shared his decision to call for an end to the death penalty with Ramaswamy, now the GOP gubernatorial nominee. The recent effort by the Trump administration to take on Medicaid fraud has found DeWine defending his administration’s work on the issue, even as Ramaswamy, Ohio-born Vice President JD Vance and GOP lawmakers take aim at Ohio’s existing fraud-fighting efforts.
Among proponents of DeWine’s push to end the death penalty in Ohio were a host of fellow Republicans, including some staunch conservatives.
“For many years, I was a proponent of the death penalty,” former congresswoman and current state Rep. Jean Schmidt said in a statement. “My views changed because of the risks of executing an innocent person, the exorbitant costs, and my belief in the sanctity of life. The death penalty is no longer a policy worth preserving.”
Former Ohio Auditor and Attorney General Jim Petro cited wrongful convictions among the flaws that make the death penalty no longer tenable.
Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, the great-grandson of President William Howard Taft and grandson of “Mr. Republican” Sen. Robert A. Taft Sr., also sided with DeWine.
DeWine “has been thoughtful and given this issue the careful consideration it needs,” Taft said.
