Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday called a special session for the state Legislature to put President Joe Biden on the ballot in November, saying his patience was “exhausted” with his fellow Republicans who seem less inclined to propose a legislative solution for a timing problem with the Democratic convention.
“The legislator had [a] session yesterday and once again, I took no action. This is simply unacceptable,” DeWine said. said in remarks to the press. “Ohio is running out of time to put Joe Biden, the sitting president of the United States, on the ballot this fall. Failure to do so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous – this is an absurd situation.
“The goal of this session will be for the General Assembly to pass legislation ensuring that the two leading presidential candidates will be on the Ohio ballot in November, as well as legislation that would prohibit campaign spending by nationals foreigners,” DeWine said.
NBC News has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment on DeWine’s remarks.
The late date of this year’s Democratic convention, when Democrats are expected to certify Biden as their nominee, comes after Ohio’s statutory deadline to certify presidential candidates for the November ballot. In the past, these problems have been resolved with quick legislative fixes, but a number of Republican lawmakers have balked this year.
The special session will begin on Tuesday.
DeWine expressed anger at his party’s lawmakers in the State House who did not appear to make a significant effort to put Biden on the ballot.
“The Senate has passed several bills that would remedy this situation,” DeWine said. “However, the House of Representatives failed to do so.”
The office of House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Republican, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
DeWine has been at odds with the GOP-dominated state legislature in the past. In 2021, lawmakers voted to limit his authority to issue public health orders. By a vote of 23-10 in the Senate and 62-35 in the House, lawmakers overrode his veto of a bill that sought to give them more power to reject his measures. The waiver sparked a power struggle with DeWine, who had made mask wearing mandatory and balanced other social distancing regulations with the reopening of schools and businesses.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Elizabeth Walters blasted “corrupt GOP politicians” in a statement after DeWine’s announcement.
“Meanwhile, Republican politicians who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Statehouse must put politics aside and pass a clean bill to put Joe Biden on the ballot,” Walters said. “Despite the Republicans’ political games, we are confident that Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio.”
Ohio was once considered a swing state, but it has moved to the right in recent elections.
In 2020, President Donald Trump won the state with about 53.3% of the vote, compared to Biden’s 45.2%. Four years earlier, Trump won with 51.8%, compared to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 43.7%. President Barack Obama won the state in 2012, marking the last time a Democratic presidential candidate won Ohio.
