DeWine caves to Statehouse Republicans

In news that will shock no one — Governor DeWine has caved to his party’s extremists in every possible way.

Statehouse Republicans sent the governor four bills that will cause immense harm to Ohio communities. He signed all four of them.

We had hoped the governor would find the courage to veto some bills he knows are terrible, since he’s leaving office after 2026 and is not expected to run for anything else.

He chose to cower in fear instead.

In an especially pathetic display of weakness, Governor DeWine signed the voter suppression bill (SB 293), but refused to sign it on camera.

Instead, Mike DeWine went on live TV and essentially claimed that he — the governor of the state of Ohio — had no choice in the matter.

DeWine said he “wished” he could veto SB 293, but “reluctantly” signed it instead. Man! If only he held the highest elected office in the state!

The governor blamed politics. He blamed the state Supreme Court. He blamed pretty much everyone but himself. Just a sickening display of utter cowardice.

SB 293 — which now become law in Ohio — is a blatant attack on voting rights. It will stop thousands of legal, eligible Ohioans from voting.

• It will require nearly all absentee ballots to be rejected if they arrive after Election day — even if they were postmarked on time. It literally punishes Ohioans for the mail being slow.

• It also includes pieces of other voter suppression bills, such as SB 153 (Ohio’s version of the SAVE Act) and SB 4 (creates a new “Election Integrity Unit”)

  • These provisions will force more Ohioans to vote provisionally. Then your voter registration will be CANCELED if you don’t “cure” your provisional ballot within FOUR DAYS

Governor DeWine also signed ALL of the fake property tax “relief” bills, which will devastate Ohio communities while protecting politicians’ wealthy donors.

All of these bills will gut funding to local schools, libraries, addiction services, and first responders.

NONE of the bills will lower property taxes for the people who need it most.

Statehouse Republicans refuse to admit that they caused Ohio’s property tax crisis by repeatedly passing tax cuts for the rich while simultaneously decreasing the state share of funding for public schools.

If they refuse to even acknowledge the problem, they damn sure can’t fix it. But you can bet they’ll go on TV and say they did.

There’s no excuse for the lasting damage Republicans have inflicted on our communities this week. And there’s really no solution except kicking them out of office.

Mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Make a commitment to vote all the way down the ballot. Mike DeWine is a wimp, and Statehouse Republicans are the bullies. They all need to lose their jobs.