DeWine, Michael (1947-…), became the governor of Ohio in 2019. DeWine, a Republican, had earlier served as Ohio’s attorney general and was a United States senator from 1995 to 2007.
In the Senate, DeWine often focused on health and safety issues. For example, DeWine worked to win approval for pediatric research and spoke out against the repeal of the national speed limit on interstate highways. One of his eight children was killed in a high-speed car crash on a rain-slick highway in 1993.
DeWine was born in Springfield, Ohio, on Jan. 5, 1947. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University of Ohio in 1969 and a law degree from Ohio Northern University in 1972. He served as assistant prosecuting attorney for Greene County, Ohio, from 1973 to 1975 and as prosecuting attorney from 1977 to 1981. He served in the Ohio Senate in 1982 and 1983.
In 1982, DeWine was elected to the United States House of Representatives. He was reelected in 1984, 1986, and 1988. He did not run for reelection in 1990. DeWine served as lieutenant governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1995. He was elected to his first term as a U.S. senator in 1994 and took office in 1995. He was reelected in 2000. In 2006, DeWine lost a reelection bid to Democratic U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown. In 2010, DeWine was elected Ohio’s attorney general—the state’s chief law officer. He was reelected in 2014. In 2018, DeWine defeated Democrat Richard Cordray in the Ohio governor’s race. DeWine took office in January 2019. He won reelection in 2022.
