Former Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) announced Wednesday that he will challenge Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in the Buckeye State’s 2022 gubernatorial primary.
Renacci, who previously ran for governor in the state in 2017 and later dropped out to run for U.S. Senate, made the announcement on WTAM 1100, a local radio station.
“Ohio cannot afford for Mike DeWine to be the governor anymore,” Renacci said in an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday. “My path may have been diverted in 2018, but my will really to change Ohio was not.”
“In Mike DeWine’s Ohio, our state has lost ground. Corruption is up. We’re ranked No. 1 and our state can’t compete in the national economy,” Renacci added.
Renacci also insisted that, should he receive the opportunity to talk with him, former President Donald Trump will see that he has a “really good opportunity” to defeat DeWine.
“Trump is still a friend,” said Renacci, who currently serves as chairman of the Medina County Republican Party. “I think in the end if I get an opportunity to talk with him, which I’m hoping to be able to do that, he’ll see that Jim Renacci has a really good opportunity.”
A report from NBC News last month stated that Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager at one time, “offered his support” in advising Renacci.
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