Several Ohio State Republican lawmakers are making good on their filing of impeachment in August and bringing it to the state legislator this month, following what they call Governor Mike DeWine’s unconstitutional executive actions he has taken to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
GOP State Rep, John Becker of Clermont County led the group of Republicans, which include state Reps Nino Vitale, Candice Keller, and Paul Zeltwanger in filing the 12 articles of impeachment against Gov DeWine. The group says that the Governor implemented unconstitutional measures to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
The allegations allege the Governors’ office of, “mismanagement, malfeasance, abuse of power, and other crimes include, but are not limited to, meddling in the conduct of a presidential primary election, arbitrary closing and placing curfews on certain businesses while allowing other businesses to remain open.”
The Governor signed several executive orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including a statewide stay at home order for a 3-week period which was signed on November 19, and lasts until December 10, 2020. The stay-at-home order mandates all Ohio residents to stay home from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Other executive actions taken by Governor DeWine include a mask mandate, along with labeling some businesses “essential,” and allowing them to stay open, while he forced other businesses to close.
“As Governor, my priorities are to keep our people safe, and to get our economy moving faster,” Governor DeWine said. “If there are others in the legislature who want to spend their time drawing up resolutions and filing articles… I say let them have at it.”
The impeachment efforts come at a time when lockdown policies and stay–at–home orders are spreading across the United States especially in states that are led by Democrat Governors, although Ohio is the exception.
The efforts come as neighboring Michigan had a county draft impeachment papers against Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer for her executive orders during this pandemic. The state of California also just recently extended its executive orders to several Southern California counties which also include a stay-at-home mandate.
