Nan Whaley (D)
Mike DeWine (R)
Wages
| Whaley strongly supports raising the minimum wage to $15 and released a plan to increase wages across the board. She has said “when I’m Governor, we’re going to raise wages – starting with raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. But we won’t stop there.” [1] | DeWine has been a staunch opponent of raising the minimum wage. He has fought local efforts to raise the minimum wage, as well as state efforts to improve overtime pay for workers. |
| When the Cincinnati city government tried to raise their minimum wage to $15 in 2016, then-Attorney General DeWine claimed the Ohio Constitution did not give cities or municipalities the right to change the minimum wage rate. [2] |
Paid Time Off & Sick Leave
| Under Whaley’s leadership, Dayton became the first major city in Ohio to provide six weeks of paid parental leave to municipal employees. Whaley has applauded the Biden Administration’s efforts to improve paid leave, and has released her “21st Century Job Plan,” which includes paid sick and family leave as a top priority. [3] | During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio Democratic leaders asked DeWine to create a temporary paid sick leave program for workers whose employers may not guarantee paid sick leave, but they received no public response from DeWine. He was unsupportive of the Biden Administration’s efforts to improve paid leave. [4] |
Helping Essential Workers
| Whaley has been supportive of essential workers throughout the pandemic and has promised continuing help. She has supported federal pandemic recovery efforts to expand benefits, and in her “21st Century Jobs” plan, Whaley includes a provision to provide free or discounted tuition for essential workers. [5] | DeWine signed a bill into law that protected businesses from COVID-19 lawsuits. By shielding employers from liability, workers are left on their own to deal with COVID-19 effects. DeWine has inconsistently both criticized and praised federal pandemic recovery efforts. [6] |
Health Care
| Whaley has said that “The ACA has improved the lives of many Ohioans, and it shouldn’t be tossed out without careful consideration of the effect. | DeWine fought to keep barriers to accessing Medicaid in place, a tactic that has been shown to reduce the availability of heath care coverage. |
| Whaley is focused on lowering drug prices for Ohioans and has said that “No Ohioan should have to choose between keeping food on the table and paying for life-saving medicine, no matter where they live in our state.” She has released a plan that includes penalizing drug companies for price gouging, capping the cost of insulin, and tying drug prices to international price rates, which are generally lower than prices in this country. [7] | Additionally, DeWine signed a bill giving doctors the right to discriminate which patients they would treat, allowing them to deny medical care to whom they chose. [8] |
Economic Insecurity & Inflation
| Whaley has released a thorough plan for battling high gas and energy prices, including prohibiting utility shutoffs during the winter. She has also proposed using federal aid to help Ohioans with energy costs and outlawing price gouging by big utility companies. | DeWine has had little response to high gas prices. He claims it would be a “mistake” to temporarily suspend the [gas] tax,” and that he’s “not really sure what we can do here in Ohio.” [10] |
| In response to high inflation, Whaley has promised to use ARPA funding to send out $350 checks to working families. She said, “we need common sense solutions to help folks struggling with rising costs.” [9] |
Unions & Labor
| Whaley is a strong supporter of workers’ rights, as shown through her “21st Century Jobs” plan and her “Worker Bill of Rights,” both of which ensure workers’ right to organize. She has promised to invest in Ohio companies that pay fair wages and has said the state will not invest in companies that impede union organizing. | DeWine has said that right-to-work laws are not a priority of his, but he has dodged questions as to whether or not he supports the laws, ultimately leaving the door open to passing right-to-work legislation in the future, which could lower wages, worsen health insurance coverage, and lessen retirement security. [12] |
| Whaley has stressed the positive impact unions have had in her own life, as her father was an ironworker and his union wages put her and her brother through college. Unsurprisingly, she has been endorsed by multiple unions, including the UFCW, RWDSU, the Chemical Workers Council, ATU Local 1385, CWA District 4, Dayton Building and Construction Trades Council, Ironworkers Local 550, IUE-CW, LiUNA Local 329, OAPSE, AFSCME Local 4, Ohio State Council of Machinists, and SEIU 1199 WV/KY/OH. [11] |
CHECK THE FACTS:
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Twitter, @nanwhaley, 3/10/2022; Nan Whaley, Invest In Ohio, Accessed 5/4/2022; Fox 19, 8/9/2021.
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Cleveland 19, 1/26/2021’ Cincinnati.com, 7/1/2016; Mahoning Matters, 4/8/2022.
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WVXU, 8/27/2015; Nan Whaley, Invest In Ohio, accessed 5/4/2022; WDTN, 3/10/2021; Twitter, @nanwhaley, 10/28/2021; AFL-CIO, 3/11/2021; Vox, 10/28/2021; Preschool Promise, About Us, accessed 5/4/2022; The Columbus Dispatch, 11/9/2021.
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Ohio Capital Journal, 3/9/2020; Cleveland.com, 12/9/2021; AFL-CIO, 3/11/2021.
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Nan Whaley, Invest In Ohio, accessed 5/4/2022; Cleveland.com, 5/13/2021; WDTN, 3/10/2021; AFL-CIO, 3/11/2021; United States Treasury, accessed 4/21/2022; NCSL, accessed 4/21/2022.
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Ogletree Deakins, 9/18/2020; Common Dreams, 6/11/2020; Cleveland.com, 12/9/2021; AFL-CIO, 3/11/2021; United States Treasury, accessed 4/21/2022; NCSL, accessed 4/21/2022; Cleveland.com, 11/10/2021; CNBC, 8/23/2021.
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Dayton Daily News, 2/22/2017; Dayton 24/7 Now, 6/27/2017; Cleveland.com, 4/8/2022; [Nan Whaley, Nan’s Plan to Lower Prescription Drug Prices, accessed 4/5/2022; WFMJ, 4/7/2022.
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Mike DeWine, News Releases, 9/9/2021; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 11/18/2020; Cleveland Scene, 5/3/2022; Human Rights Campaign, 7/1/2021.
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Twitter, @nanwhaley, 12/8/2021; Twitter, @nanwhaley, 12/8/2021; Ohio Capital Journal, 6/2/2022; Dayton Daily News, 11/15/2021.
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Cleveland.com, 3/11/2022; Cleveland.com, 4/3/2019; Accountable Northwest, 2/9/2022; Twitter, @MikeDeWine, 3/1/2022; CBS News, 3/17/2022; NRDC, 3/15/2022; Policy Matters Ohio, 6/29/2021; Policy Matters Ohio, 6/29/2021; 1/30/2019.
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Nan Whaley, Invest In Ohio, accessed 5/4/2022; The Statehouse News Bureau, 9/7/2021; Nan Whaley, 9/7/2021; Twitter, @nanwhaley, 11/2/2019; Nan Whaley, Endorsements, accessed 5/4/2022.