Cleveland Reporter

Governor Mike DeWine will face challenger Jim Renacci in the May 3 primary to represent the Republican party in Ohio's Nov. 8 general election. Renacci is attacking Ohio’s record when it comes to economic recovery related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ohio, according to a December report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ranked 33rd in the U.S. for creating jobs.

"Our state ranks from 36th to 50th in just about every category," Renacci, who served as the U.S. representative for Ohio's 16th congressional district from 2011-19, said at a recent campaign event. "We can't compete with other states because we haven't changed the things we need to change."

A litany of regulations and restrictions has slowed Ohio’s recovery. A recent study by Mercatus Center found Ohio is the third-most regulated state in the country, behind only California and New York. The study calculated Ohio had 274,470 restrictions. Idaho, according to the study, is the least-regulated state with only 38,961 restrictions. The top three most-regulated industries are administrative and support services, professional, scientific and technical services, and waste management and remediation.

In addition, a December report from the Tax Foundation reveals Ohio was in the bottom 10 for corporate taxes and individual incomes taxes. The state ranked 35th in sales tax, sixth for property tax and 10th for unemployment insurance tax.

Those aren’t the only troubling statistics connected to Ohio. According to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, The state ranks fourth in the country for drug overdose deaths. An estimated 5,215 people in Ohio died from drug overdoses in 2020. The only states that suffered more overdose deaths were California, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Renacci is also expected to question DeWine’s overall leadership compared to other Republican governors. According to research by the Republican National Committee, 16 of the top 20 states for jobs recovery following the pandemic are led by Republican governors. Ohio didn’t make the list. The top nine states all have Republican governors led by Utah, followed by Idaho, Texas, Arizona, Montana, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee and Florida.