More of this:
In what is likely to be one of the premier issues in the November gubernatorial election, Democratic nominee for governor Richard Cordray on Friday attacked Republican nominee Mike DeWine as responsible for people dying from opioid and heroin overdoses.
The comments, made both in an interview with cleveland.com and during a campaign stop rolling out endorsements from 17 Ohio sheriffs, is the start of what will likely be a protracted law and order-style battle between Cordray, the attorney general from 2009 to 2011, and DeWine, who defeated Cordray in 2010 and has served since 2011. Opioids and drug addiction in general have ravaged communities around the state, with deaths and overdoses spiking dramatically in the past five years.
Cordray said DeWine's sluggish response as the state's top law enforcement official has led to people dying.
"It's tripled on his watch - the number of deaths in the last several years," Cordray said. "He did nothing about it. Law enforcement recognizes that. They're the ones who have to cope with this in the community every day."
Republicans, who control both the Statehouse and governor's office, have also cut local government funding, starving them of resources necessary to combat addiction, Cordray said.
"I do think he bears responsibility for that," Cordray said. "A number of other people do as well, but he certainly bears his share for the responsibility of that. I don't see how that's a debatable question."
Sheriff John Lenhart, the Republican sheriff of Shelby County, was one of the sheriffs who announced their support for Cordray on Friday. Lenhart said DeWine was a good person who was trying to do the right thing, but he and others in Columbus let the problem fester for so long it spun out of control.
"Nobody has declared this an emergency," Lenhart said. "Are you kidding me? And it's not like they didn't know about it. They've been going around the state grandstanding for four or five years talking to everybody. It's more like a public relations thing than trying to get something done."
Of course, DeWine was not happy about this:
DeWine campaign spokesperson Joshua Eck counters that the candidate has done a lot to combat the crisis, including seizing $158 million worth of heroin.
“In 2011, DeWine hired a former prosecutor to lead the anti-opiate/heroin efforts,” Eck said in an email. “In 2011, DeWine shut down the pill mills. In 2013, created a dedicated heroin unit in his office that focuses on both Law Enforcement and Community Outreach that is active in all 88 counties.”
Several sheriffs throughout Ohio contacted DeWine’s office to show their support for his work's attorney general.
“It's an absurd statement for Rich Cordray to claim Mike DeWine hasn't helped with the opiate epidemic," Union County Sheriff Jamie Patton said. "That couldn't be farther from the truth. He has been on top of this issue from day one, and when he is governor, he will be able to do so much more.”
This is going to be one brutal election and we have to get ready to fight back. Click here to donate and get involved with Cordray’s campaign.