Jim Renacci, former U.S. Representative and GOP gubernatorial candidate, released an ad on Tuesday, accusing Governor Mike DeWine of defending violent protestors and placing them ahead of small businesses throughout Ohio.
“While mobs and violent protesters were burning our state down, Mike DeWine defended them and did nothing to protect us from their looting and destruction. Instead, he implemented Andrew Cuomo’s playbook and put the mob first at the expense of Ohioans who were being terrorized,” Renacci said in a statement detailing the new ad.
Renacci has increasingly sought to draw comparisons of the leadership decisions of DeWine and New York’s Cuomo, and he has pledged to “Put Ohio First.”
The campaign statement added, “DeWine has a history of modeling his leadership after Andrew Cuomo, trafficking New York style politics and corruption into Ohio. Tax increases, unnecessary shut downs, rampant fraud and corruption, and pay-for-play scandals will be DeWine’s legacy as governor.”
The 30-second clip shows footage of violent protestors looting and destroying buildings during the course of riots in summer of 2020. Further, it compares the language of DeWine and Cuomo. DeWine says only “a small number” of individuals were violent, and Cuomo claims the majority of protestors were peaceful.
Another focal point of Renacci’s DeWine-Cuomo criticism stems from DeWine’s decision to use taxpayer funds to encourage individuals to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Both governors utilized lottery-style giveaways to persuade individuals.
In his campaign to defeat the incumbent governor, Renacci is working closely with Brad Parscale, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager. The two released a poll demonstrated that Renacci is currently leading DeWine in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
While President Trump has not weighed in on the campaign, he did endorse Renacci in his 2018 bid for U.S. Senate.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
