Gun owners must make their voices heard to the governor on who will be an acceptable replacement for JD Vance — and on who won’t be.
“The race is on to replace JD Vance in the U.S. Senate,” WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau noted Wednesday, following the Trump/Vance ticket’s presidential election victory. “[Ohio Governor Mike] DeWine has a big decision to make. Vance will need to resign from his coveted Senate seat, and the governor will appoint his replacement.”
Who DeWine will pick is crucial to the interests of gun owners and Trau has compiled a list and overview analysis of names being considered that is admittedly “not exhaustive” but nonetheless “reflects the views of two dozen Ohio political insiders.”
“I’ll look for someone who wants to get things done every day and will stay focused on it,” DeWine had told Trau in July. “We also have to have someone who will be able to stay there a while.” And, according to Republican strategist Bob Clegg, he may “choose someone with more in common with his own ideology and mild-mannered personality.”
That would not be the best outcome for a number of reasons. Note the qualities of “get[ting] things done” is silent on what things, and DeWine’s on again/off again affinities for citizen disarmament edicts show a politician who views the right to arms as a political expedient rather than a keystone for freedom. In short, he’s gone from engendering headlines like “Principled Statesman Mike DeWine Endorsed by Brady Campaign” to being endorsed by NRA. After a mass shooting in Dayton, he returned to his gun-grabber roots stumping for supposedly “bipartisan” infringements, including raising the firearm purchasing age, “expanded background checks,” and so-called “safety protection orders.”
By David Codrea
