Government Mike DeWine remains frontrunner over Democrat Nan Whaley as campaign season heats up

 Nearly two months before Election Day in Columbus, Ohio, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley has made a bid to unseat Republican Gov. Mike DeVine, according to observers across the political spectrum.

   But with Labor Day as the traditional start to the campaign season, DeVine has a significant lead in open polls, a huge fundraising advantage and is a well-known incumbent in a state that has been in a state of deep turmoil in recent years.  Political power has changed over the years.  Democratic President Joe Biden's approval rating, rebounded from historic lows in recent weeks, is still below 50%.

   Former Dayton Mayor Whaley, who also made a brief run for governor in 2018, has tried to appeal to Ohioans to appeal the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe.  Wade is upset over the decision to overturn the abortion rights case.  Devin, meanwhile, remains unpopular with many on the political right thanks to anger over his unilateral coronavirus policies.

   But, overall, observers see the Ohio governor's race as a loss for Devin and Republican J.D.  It is influenced by the competitive, and more high-profile, US Senate race between Vance and Democratic US Republican Tim Ryan.

   A Democratic observer said Tim is campaigning to elect Democrats in Ohio.  And Nan is running a good campaign but not at that level.

   Devin, a Greene County resident campaigning for a second term in 2018, defeated Democrat Richard Corde by nearly four percentage points.  Her campaign has focused on issues such as job creation, such as the upcoming construction of a $20 billions Intel computer chip plants.  Near Columbus.

   He also tried to support the law enforcement campaign issue, as well as $100 million in grants to law enforcement agencies, although he says most of that funding was passed by congressional Democrats.  The federal coronavirus-assistance law arrived.  And Devin and other Republicans opposed it.

   Our DeWine Husted team is across the state knocking on doors, calling and meeting voters at rallies, parades, you name it, we're there.  Ours fundraising numbers reflect the same level of enthusiasm we are seeing from the grassroots, said Devin spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.  He is exceptionally well positioned to win in November.

   Whaley, meanwhile, initially expected gun-control to be a major issue in his campaign.  When Valley was mayor after the 2019 mass shooting in Dayton, she and Devin jointly called for new regulations to reduce gun violence.  But a gun-reform package Devine later introduced in the Legislature stalled, and he signed legislation that significantly loosened Ohio's gun restrictions and drew sharp criticism from Whaley.

   However, after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the abortion valley has now become a hotbed of campaigning.  Soon after, a DeVine-signed bill banning abortion took effect about six weeks later, and Ohio became a flashpoint in the abortion debate after the rape of a 10-year-old Columbus girl lost her life.  Traveled to Indiana to finish.  pregnancy

   Whaley, a staunch supporter of abortion rights and the first woman to win a major-party nomination for Ohio governor, is tapping into voters upset by the Supreme Court decision and Ohio's new abortion restrictions.

   Whaley campaign spokeswoman Courtney Rice said women motivated to defend abortion rights will defeat Devin in November.

   Rice said women in Ohio are extremely angry and have every right to be.  And I think that momentum, that level of frustration that women and families, obviously in Ohio, will not end between now and Election Day.  And I think that will make a difference for us, she said.

   Tom Sutton, a political scientist at Baldwin Wallace University, said he believes women will be a driving force in this year's election, but said it's not yet clear how big that force will be.

   I think you have women in what we call 'Trump Country' who have voted very conservative Republican for years, but without talking about it, whales are dying because of this (abortion) issue.  You can vote, Sutton said.

   In 2018, 58% of female voters in Ohio supported Cordery, compared to 41% for Devine, according to exit polls.  But David Pepper, a former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party who lost to Devin in the 2014 Ohio attorney general race, said Devin received more support from middle-class suburban women voters than a typical Republican candidate, and his decisive steps have earned him goodwill.  Early days of the coronavirus crisis.

   I wonder if the women in the past who didn't think Mike DeWine was too extreme as governor were really cool with that?  Women now see him as a governor who has shocked them.  Through extreme policies on everything from abortion to guns?  Pepper said.

   That's a threat to non-whales if they're only thinking about dealing with Covid, Pepper said.  So Nan has to make a really strong case that women who, in the past, were comfortable voting for Mike Devine, need to look at him differently this time.

   The paper also noted that Devin has the advantage of being better known around Ohio than Whaley, thanks to his statewide campaigns over the years.