Ohio Gov. DeWine does not plan to sign anything into law that would limit the governor’s authority

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has begun talks with Governor-elect Amy Acton about her administration, saying “we want to be helpful.” He also indicated that he does not support any attempt by lame-duck Republican supermajority lawmakers to dramatically change the powers of governor before January.

The DeWines had Governor-elect Acton and her husband Eric over at the Ohio Governor’s residence Wednesday night.

“It’s in everyone’s interest that the new administration be successful, that they get things done,” DeWine told reporters at a post-election results conference Thursday morning. 

“We’re going to do everything we can, and that would have been true whether it was Vivek Ramaswamy or Governor-elect Acton. … What I started to do with her is here’s what I know. Here’s what my experiences have been. Here are some difficult things. Here are things that, I think, as I look at the trajectory of Ohio, I think is going to be challenging.”

Ohio Democrats broke the Republican supermajority in the Ohio House, limiting the lawmakers’ ability to override vetoes from Acton. Political analysts expect Ohio Republican lawmakers to try to push proposals that could limit the governor’s authority.  

“I don’t think any governor is going to approve anything, whether Democrat or Republican, that would dramatically change the powers of the governor,” DeWine said.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate. I have no idea if they are going to do that.” 

Acton previously served on DeWine’s cabinet as Ohio Department of Health director from February 2019 to June 2020.  

Acton will take office as Ohio governor on Jan. 11 and she named John Haseley as her  transition chair. Haseley has previously worked with members of the Ohio Democratic Party including Ted Strickland, John Glenn, and Dick Celeste. 

“We govern in this state from the center-right and the center-left, and I have every expectation that Governor-elect Acton will do the same, and she will be consistent with that long, long tradition of Democrats and Republicans in the state of Ohio who govern either from the center-left or the center-right,” DeWine said.

“Predictability, stability, is really one of the strengths that we have as a state.” 

DeWine hopes Acton will continue the science of reading with more reading coaches, the OhioSEE Program, the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, and the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. 

“We must continue to invest, frankly, in our greatest asset. And our greatest asset is our children,” DeWine said. 

“If you look at (Acton’s) speech she made on election night … She certainly talked about children. She talked about H2Ohio. Now I will say this: Vivek Ramaswamy, when I talked to him, he had expressed that he would try to continue those issues as well. She’s got to govern, and she’s got to face the challenges that she faces. All I can do is talk about what I think is in the best interest in the state of Ohio. Investing in children is absolutely the best money we can spend.”

DeWine declined to say if Ramaswamy’s controversial ad featuring Acton’s estranged mom impacted other Ohio Republicans in Tuesday’s election. 

“I’m not going to get into micromanagement and dissect campaigns,” he said. 

Following a national trend, Ohio Democrats won several races both at the state and federal level.

Democrat Sherrod Brown will going back to the U.S. Senate, Allison Russo was elected Ohio Secretary of State, John Kulewicz will be Ohio’s Attorney General, Seth Walsh was elected Ohio Treasurer, Justice Jennifer Brunner retained her seat on the Ohio Supreme Court and Marilyn Zayas was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court. 

DeWine called Tuesday’s election a “mighty wind that came across not just Ohio, but across, of course, the whole country.”

“Sometimes there is a mighty wind out there, and no matter what you do, there’s nothing you can do in that campaign to win. This is something that happens every once in a while. And this mighty wind really took it away from many candidates who, in a normal year, would have won.” 

DeWine said he expects Ohioans to hear from Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted again. Husted lost to Brown and was formerly DeWine’s lieutenant governor. 

When asked if Husted will run for governor in 2030, DeWine said “I’m not going to get into that.” 

DeWine, who has about 65 days left in office, said he has a list of things he hopes to see the legislature do during lame duck, but has not yet talked about those with Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman and Ohio Senate President Rob McColley. 

“There’ll be certain things we’ll be trying to get done,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll have things that they want to get done. I hope we can reach some consensus about things that we both can support.”

DeWine said he is focused on highway safety and passing the primary seatbelt law, which allows law enforcement to pull over and ticket a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt. Currently in Ohio, law enforcement officers can only cite drivers for not wearing a seat belt if they are stopped for a different traffic violation.

“We know that Ohio still lags behind in regards to seatbelt use, we know the primary seatbelt law will increase that use,” he said.

“Ninety percent put on a seatbelt. Yet 60% of the fatalities in the state come from people who do not have a seatbelt. So that tells you the magnitude of having that seatbelt on. We can protect our lives. We can keep families from mourning young ones, mourning their father, their mother.” 

He said there are other things too, but quickly followed up by saying “I won’t reveal my whole list today.” 

Follow Ohio Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on X or on Bluesky.