Pat DeWine
Current Position: Ohio Supreme Court Justice
Running against Judge Marilyn Zayas
Bail Reform
Opinion: Safety of community should always be a factor in setting bail
Disagreed with the Court’s decision in DuBose v. McGuffey, arguing it used the wrong standard of review, failed to protect victims’ rights, and should have allowed consideration of public safety when setting cash bail
Redistricting
Voted to approve gerrymandered 2022 state legislative and congressional maps on all six occasions and did not recuse himself from hearing redistricting cases involving his father, Governor Mike DeWine
Criminal Justice Reform
Stated he needs more information before supporting the Criminal Sentencing Database, a project supported by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor that is designed to assess and ensure fair and impartial treatment for all
Abortion
In a 2022 questionnaire for Greater Cincinnati Right to Life, DeWine agreed with the following statements:
"In Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a “right to privacy” under the Constitution that includes abortion. The Constitution does not include this right."
“An unborn child is biologically human at every stage of his or her biological development, beginning at fertilization.”
“There is no provision in the current Ohio Constitution intended to require the use of public funds for abortion.”
Joined the majority in 2018 in a 5-2 ruling to overturn lower court rulings that said state restrictions on abortion clinics were unconstitutional and upheld a state order to close Toledo's only abortion clinic for failing to follow state law
LGBTQ+ Issues
Suggested that laws protecting LGBTQ+ against discrimination are invalid. In 2016, DeWine indicated that he would likely find nondiscrimination laws that protect LGBTQ+ individuals in housing, employment, and public accommodations unconstitutional on the basis that they infringe on free speech and association rights.
Clean Campaign
Declined to sign the Ohio State Bar Association’s Judicial Election Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee's "clean campaign agreement"
2020 Election
Acknowledged that Joe Biden is president and when asked if the election results were legitimate, said he had no reason to believe otherwise.
Endorsements include: Buckeye Firearms Association, Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, Ohio Right to Life, Ohio Republican Party, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Chamber of Commerce