Ohio GOP Civil War: “Venom Oozing from the Republican Race for Governor”

DeWine and Taylor’s Families Dragged into the Fight

Today’s cartoon in the Columbus Dispatch perfectly sums up the Ohio Republican primary:

The nasty fight between Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Attorney General Mike DeWine sunk to new lows this week. Both candidates’ children got dragged into the fray as Republicans argued over who has suffered through worse family trauma.
DeWine was also forced to distance himself from an attack launched last week when an allied group tweeted that Taylor was a “criminal” and ended it with #LockHerUp.

As Ohio’s GOP gubernatorial campaign descended into back-and-forth about the candidates’ children, Attorney General Mike DeWine said he regrets his campaign’s tweet calling Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor “criminal” and using the hashtag ”#LockHerUp.”

No subject is off limits or too petty for these two. Taylor even mocked DeWine’s wife for having a cookbook:

“What have you been doing, Mike DeWine, besides handing out ice cream and recipes and building a revisionist history of your own record?” she asked in a jab at DeWine’s annual ice cream social and wife Fran’s widely distributed list of home recipes.

“The fight between Mike DeWine and Mary Taylor has quickly become one of the ugliest primaries in the country,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “DeWine and Taylor are willing to do whatever it takes to bring the other down, and it’s doing lasting damage to both of them. As we get closer to primary day, expect the attacks to get even harsher.”