Pat DeWine
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Richard Patrick ("Pat") DeWine is a U.S. lawyer and politician, affiliated with the Republican party. He currently serves as a member of the Hamilton County Commission. DeWine is the son of former U.S Sen. R. Michael DeWine.
He took office in January 2005, having defeated incumbent John Dowlin in the Republican primary in March 2004 and winning the general election on November 2, 2004. Previously he served as a member of the city council of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a candidate in the June 14, 2005, primary for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House seat vacated by Rob Portman. He placed fourth behind Jean Schmidt, Bob McEwen, and Tom Brinkman.
His first elective office was the Cincinnati council. In a field of twenty with nine to be elected, he finished sixth in 1999 with 27,745 votes. He was re-elected in 2001, finishing second in a field of twenty-six with 43,191 votes. In 2003, he was re-elected with 26,573 votes, finishing sixth in a field of twenty-six. He resigned from council in order to take his seat on the Hamilton County Commission. Chris Monzel, a Republican who had lost his council seat in the last election, was appointed to fill out DeWine's term on the city council.
Questions have been raised about his personal life. In 2004, he had faced incumbent John Dowlin in the March primary for the Republican nomination to be county commissioner. Dowlin had run ads calling attention to DeWine leaving his pregnant wife and their two children for a mistress, Betty Hull, who was working as a Republican lobbyist. Though Dowlin lost, the issue was resurrected by DeWine's rivals in 2005. Bob McEwen and Jean Schmidt made it a point in their stump speeches to emphasize how long they had been married to their spouses, Schmidt declaring "I am a woman of character who has been married for twenty-nine years."
Many voters agreed with the critics. A letter from Jeffrey S. Learman of Warren County's Deerfield Township published in The Pulse-Journal on June 9 stated:
- If Pat DeWine cannot honor his vow before God to preserve the sanctity of his marriage by remaining faithful to his wife, how can he possibly be trusted to honor a vow before God to uphold and defend the Constitution, to preserve the freedom and liberties of those residing in the 2nd Congressional District? If Pat DeWine would betray those closest to him--his wife and children--then no one, especially constituents whom he has never met, is safe from his treachery. Pat DeWine is unfit for public office, even that of dog catcher.
"I deeply regret that my marriage failed. I'll be the first to admit I'm not perfect", DeWine said at a candidate forum in May 2005. DeWine was loudly booed by voters at this forum and its sponsor, the Anderson Township Republican club, voted to declare DeWine was "not qualified at this time."
DeWine has also suffered politically from his father's role in the U.S. Senate compromise on the filibuster issue, although he himself has said that had he been a U.S. senator, he would not have compromised.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported six days before the primary that DeWine had raised more money than all of his rivals combined, raising $743,407. The political action committees of several of his father's Republican colleagues in the Senate gave him money, including Bill Frist, Trent Lott, Rick Santorum, Thad Cochran, Richard Shelby, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Hagel, and Norm Coleman.
DeWine is the father of three sons, Michael, Matthew, and Brian. He is an associate with the firm of Keating, Muething, and Klekamp.
[edit] See also
- Ohio 2nd congressional district election, 2005
- Ohio's 2nd congressional district
- Election Results, City Council of Cincinnati, Ohio
