Retired military and active-duty Ohio families spoke out against Gov. Mike DeWine recently deploying Ohio National Guard troops to Washington D.C. at the request of President Donald Trump.

Trump said earlier this month he would send National Guard troops to Washington D.C. to crackdown on crime and Ohio is one of six states that has so far sent troops to Washington D.C.

Violent crime in Washington D.C. is at a thirty year low and Toledo, Dayton, and Cleveland all had a higher crime rate than Washington D.C. in 2024.

“This is not a national emergency,” said VALOR Media Network President Kenneth Harbaugh. “The impact on the morale of these soldiers on the ground is palpable when they are pulled away from their families, when they have to miss birthdays and graduations and the beginning of school and things like that to go guard a Shake Shack.”

Trump has also talked about possibly sending troops to other cities including Chicago, New York, and Baltimore.

“The current deployments … and the ones that are being contemplated in other places throughout the country in the near future are unnecessary and disruptive to the lives of all these citizen soldiers,” said Christopher Dziubek, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General.

Secretary of the Army Daniel P. Driscoll asked DeWine on Aug. 15 to send 150 members from the Ohio National Guard to Washington D.C. and members of the Ohio National Guard are currently there on a 30-day deployment.

Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Tennessee have also sent troops — all states with Republican governors.

“These deployments to D.C. are not an emergency and are an overstep in the use of our military,” said Ohio Army National Guard veteran Jermaine Collins. “It’s downright disrespectful to our citizen soldiers to pull them away from their families and their communities to police the unhoused population in D.C. and assist ICE in mass deportations.”

Part of Trump’s crackdown on crime comes from a recent executive order that forces those experiencing homelessness off the streets.

“Our loved ones are being deployed, not for defense, not for disaster relief, not for emergencies, but for missions that are vague, polarizing, and even cosmetic,” said Brandi Jones, an Ohio military spouse and co-executive director of Secure Families Initiative. “Beautification of cities is not the job of the military.”

The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia has not asked for National Guard troops to be deployed, and Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has spoken out against the deployment.

“Folks did not sign up for the National Guard to become political pawns,” Collins said. “If our citizen soldiers wanted to become Metro P.D. or ICE agents, they would have signed up for that instead of the National Guard. … National Guard troops shouldn’t be used as political pawns.”

Trump does have the authority to request National Guard troops to Washington D.C.

“But the trigger for using those legal authorities is in an emergency situation … where normal local authorities are hamstrung by lack of resources, or they’re utterly overrun by violent rioters, protesters, insurrectionists, (or) rebels,” said Dan Maurer, U.S. Army veteran and Ohio Northern University College of Law associate professor.

Sixty cities have a higher violent crime rate than Washington D.C., he said.

“The governor should have asked questions … like, ‘Well, what exactly is the emergency we’re facing? … What are the facts on the ground that justify the extraordinary use of another state’s National Guard on the streets of American cities to do law enforcement?” Maurer said.

The Ohio National Guard is one of the largest in the country with around 17,000 soldiers and airmen, according to the 122nd Army National Guard Band.

Advocates are calling on DeWine to bring the deployed National Guards troops home.

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Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.

Survivors of Dr. Richard Strauss say Ohio Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan knew about the sexual abuse the student-athletes suffered, according to HBO’s new documentary, “Surviving Ohio State.”

Jordan declined to be interviewed for the documentary, but his name is frequently brought up by former Ohio State wrestlers and a referee. The documentary came out last month. Over the years, Jordan has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the abuse.

“To say that (Jordan) knew nothing, that nothing ever happened, it’s a flat out lie,” former Ohio State Wrestler Dan Ritchie said in the documentary.

Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male victims between 1979 and 1996 during his time as a physician for Ohio State’s Athletics Department and at the university’s Student Health Center, according to an independent investigation commissioned by Ohio State University.

Strauss retired from Ohio State University in 1998 and died by suicide in 2005 when he was 67. Jordan was an Ohio State assistant wrestling coach from 1987 to 1995.

“Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,” said Russell Dye, spokesperson for Jordan.

At one point in the documentary, Ritchie said Jordan claimed, “If (Strauss) ever did that to me, I’d snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood.”

In the documentary, wrestling referee Fred Feeney shared his experience with Strauss sexually assaulting him in the shower after a wrestling match.

He said he told then Ohio State Wrestling Coach Russ Hellickson and Jordan that Strauss was masturbating beside Feeney in the shower.

“Jim Jordan looked at me straight in my face and said, ‘It’s Strauss. You know what he does,’” Feeney said in the documentary.

Jordan turned to politics after coaching — serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1995 to 2000 and the Ohio State Senate from 2001 to 2006 before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he represents Ohio’s 4th Congressional District. He is up for reelection next year.

Former Ohio State wrestler Mike Schyck said he thought Jordan would help the Strauss abuse survivors.

“Jim Jordan is a pit bull,” Schyck said in the documentary. “And so I figured why in the hell wouldn’t this guy step up for us?”

The documentary shows television clips of Jordan adamantly denying he knew about the abuse.

“I’ve stood up to the FBI,” Jordan said when pressed by NBC4 reporter Colleen Marshall in a clip from the documentary. “I’ve stood up to the IRS. So if I thought there was something wrong, if I knew there was something wrong happening, I would have stood up for them.”

“There was no truth to the fact that I knew of any abuse,” Jordan said in July 2018 during a press gaggle with central Ohio reporters. “I’ve talked to other coaches, they didn’t know about any abuse. It’s just not accurate to say those things, that we know of it and didn’t report it. It’s just not true.”

Ohio State University has settled with 296 survivors who sued the university for more than $60 million.

“We express our deep regret and apologies to all who experienced Strauss’ abuse,” Ohio State University Spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email. “… All male students who filed lawsuits have been offered the opportunity to settle.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he has not seen “Surviving Ohio State,” but recently referenced the working group he established back in 2019 in response to the Strauss abuse that sought a review of medical board sexual misconduct cases for the last 25 years.

“I’m confident that we, at that point, did everything that we could do and we look forward to the future in regard to making sure that the medical board reacts, when there are reports that come in, in an appropriate way and has the expertise within that board, and the right people,” DeWine said Monday when asked about the documentary.

DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 109 into law last year which enables the State Medical Board of Ohio to hold licensees accountable when they engage in sexual misconduct or commit sexual crimes.

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said last week the state’s Republican Party ”made a bad decision,” by endorsing Vivek Ramaswamy for governor last month.

“The party exists to win elections, and it’s not a pretty game,” Yost said Friday during a City Club of Cleveland forum. “I’m used to getting bruised by the political process. This was just a little bit bigger bruise that I’m accustomed to.”

The Ohio Republican Party endorsed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy for governor May 9 — a year before the primary. Yost dropped out of the race a week later.

The City Club of Cleveland originally invited Yost, who officially announced he was running for governor back in January, to speak about his platform for governor before he suspended his campaign.

“I did offer to withdraw as speaker, but I guess it was too late to find someone more interesting,” Yost said.

NOTUS reported that Yost asked the Trump administration for an appointment in exchange for suspending his campaign, but ultimately rejected their offer of ambassador to Cyprus.

When asked if this was true during the forum, Yost said “I think it would be inappropriate to publicly discuss private conversations.”

Michael McIntyre, executive editor of Ideastream Public Media, asked Yost questions during the forum ranging from abortion to Yost’s future.

Yost, who is against abortion, has appealed the decision to strike down the state’s six-week abortion ban that went into effect for several months after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio’s six-week abortion ban into law in 2019, but it was blocked in court at the time.

When asked if Yost’s goal was to limit abortion, he said, “It is to preserve those matters that are adjacent to abortion that were passed by our duly elected general assembly, whether they fall within the rubric of the amendment of being directly or indirectly impacting or limiting the right to abortion.”

Ohioans voted to protect access to abortion, fertility treatments, contraception, and miscarriage care through a constitutional amendment in 2023, but Ohio Republican lawmakers recently introduced Ohio House Bill 370, which would ban all abortions – regardless of rape or incest. It would also outlaw IVF and IUDs.

“I will decline, as I usually do, to take a public opinion on matters in front of the legislature because I have neither a vote nor a veto,” Yost said when asked about the bill. “If it were to pass, it would be my statutory duty under the law to defend it, regardless of whether I agreed with it or not.”

Yost’s term as state attorney general ends January 2027, and he said he’s still thinking about what he will do next.

“Eventually I will make a decision,” said Yost, who is term-limited. “What I can tell you is I’m not prepared to go quietly down into that good night and hope to remain active in fighting for Ohio and America’s future.”

Two candidates have announced so far they are running for attorney general in 2026 — current Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber and former Democratic state rep. Elliot Forhan.

Ohio governor race

Ramaswamy and former Morgan County school board president Heather Hill are currently the only GOP candidates running for governor, but Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel previously said he is considering running.

Former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton is the only Democrat running for governor and will speak at the City Club of Cleveland on Wednesday.

Democrats are waiting to see if former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will run for Senate or Ohio governor, or nothing at all. Currently, gaming and technology businessman Chris Volpe, of Columbus, is the only announced Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in 2026.

Current Republican Ohio Auditor Keith Faber is running for attorney general in 2026; current Republican Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague is running for secretary of state in 2026; and current Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is running for auditor in 2026.

Bryan Hambley, a cancer doctor with University of Cincinnati Health, is the only announced Democratic candidate for Ohio Secretary of State. Former state representative Elliot Forhan has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Ohio Attorney General. No Democrats have yet announced their candidacy in 2026 for Ohio auditor or treasurer.

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Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine remains tight-lipped about who is considering to fill the soon-to-be-vacant Ohio U.S. Senate seat.

DeWine told reporters Thursday morning he doesn’t know yet who is going to pick to replace Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance when he becomes vice president. Vance will be inaugurated on Jan. 20 and has yet to announce when he will resign from the Senate.

“I’ve interviewed a number of people, I’ve talked to a number of people,” DeWine said. “A lot of people want to be senator, quite an amazing number. People have had some contact with us about that, a lot of people have opinions around the state. We’re in the process of reaching a decision and we will have it by the time J.D. Vance resigns.”

DeWine said he has spoken to President-elect Donald Trump and Vance about the Senate seat, but said he was not going to divulge information about their conversations.

Both of Ohio’s senators will be new to the U.S. Senate with Republican political newcomer Bernie Moreno ousting Sen. Sherrod Brown during last month’s election. Whoever DeWine appoints must run in the 2026 special election if they want to maintain their Senate seat, something he is taking into consideration.

“Who I appoint has to be able to, in less than two years, win a primary and then win a general election and then come back two years later and win a primary general election,” DeWine said. “So it has to be someone who I believe will win a primary and then win a general election.”

Some people are speculating if Brown is eyeing the Ohio U.S. Senate seat in 2026.

DeWine, who served as a U.S. Senator from 1995 to 2007, said he is looking for someone who can advocate for Ohio.

“Every senator can have a big influence in many ways, but one way certainly is advocating for their state,” he said. “… It is a major criteria, someone who gets Ohio, who gets us.”

Even though DeWine is keeping his list of potential candidates close to the vest, there are several potential names that have been floating around including state Sen. Matt Dolan, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, Republican National Committee Committeewoman for Ohio Jane Timken and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, among others.

Republicans recently secured a slim majority in the U.S. House, a factor DeWine said he is considering when it comes to making a decision which not might bode well for Carey.

“It’s a reality of where we are today after the president took a few,” DeWine said.

Two prominent Ohio Republicans who were initially thought of as a potential Senate pick won’t get the job.

Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was originally considered a potential Senate pick, but Trump tapped him and billionaire Elon Musk to help lead his new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a nongovernmental task force designed to find ways to fire federal workers, eliminate programs and gut federal regulations.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has publicly said he is running for governor in 2026, even recently posting a video on the social media platform X hinting at his campaign for governor.

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Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com.