Gov. Mike DeWine faces off against Democrat Nan Whaley in Ohio's gubernatorial election

• Gov. Mike DeWine is running against Democrat Nan Whaley in Ohio's gubernatorial race.

• DeWine is a former US senator and representative while Whaley is the former mayor of Dayton, Ohio.

• This is one of 36 gubernatorial elections taking place in 2022.

Republican incumbent Gov. Mike DeWine faces off against Democrat Nan Whaley in Ohio's gubernatorial election.

Ohio's gubernatorial candidates

DeWine became governor of Ohio in 2019 after defeating his Democratic opponent by just under 4 percentage points in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Prior to his time as governor, DeWine served as Ohio's attorney general and represented the state in the US House of Representatives and Senate.

As governor, DeWine oversaw the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic — he imposed orders shutting down events in the state before it reported a single case and was also the first governor in the country to shut down schools statewide.

Whaley, DeWine's Democratic challenger, is the former mayor of Dayton, Ohio, as well as the former executive director of the Montgomery County Democratic Party. In the state's Democratic primary election, Whaley handily defeated John Cranley by 30 percentage points.

The biggest issue Whaley's campaigning on, according to her interview with the Ohio Capital Journal, is access to abortion. She told the outlet that she not only wants to codify Roe v. Wade in order to protect abortion rights, but also wants the right amended into the state constitution as well.

Ohio's voting history

Former President Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by an 8 percentage-point-margin in Ohio during 2020. Ohio, which has a reputation of being swing state, voted for the Republican candidate in 2016 and 2020 but voted for the Democratic candidate in the two previous before that.

The money race

According to the latest finance reports filed with the Ohio Secretary of State in early October, DeWine has a bank balance of $12.5 million. His opponent, Whaley, has $3.9 million of cash on hand.

What experts say

The race between DeWine and Whaley is rated as "solid Republican" by Inside Elections, "solid Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "safe Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

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