The Chuck ToddCast
The Chuck ToddCast
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Interview Only w/ Governor Mike DeWine - A Republican Governor Says What He Really Thinks
47 minutes Posted Aug 31, 2026 at 9:00 am.
Governor Mike DeWine joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:15 More comfortable speaking out since not running for office 02:30 Mike’s argument against the death penalty 03:00 It takes 20 years on average from adjudication to execution 03:30 Death penalty process is not able to be sped up 05:00 We need to have legal immigrants admitted to America 06:15 We were educating immigrants, then not having them stay 07:00 Ohio’s economic increases have come from immigrants 07:30 Immigrants are critical to caring for our aging population 08:15 Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? 10:00 Putting an emphasis on rehabilitating prisoners 11:15 It’s in the self-interest of society to educate inmates 12:30 Emotion rather than logic & nuance drives the crime debate 13:30 Truly violent criminals are a very small percentage of the population 14:00 Violent criminals are the ones you have to get out of society 15:15 America goes through pro-immigration and anti-immigration phases 16:00 We need people who want to work  16:30 Haitians in Springfield created challenges, but they work hard 17:30 It’s not in our interest to deport people who are here and working 18:45 Haiti is a major challenge 21:45 Canada trade war is a problem, they’re a major customer for Ohio 23:30 Need a balance between manufacturing here and importing 25:45 Is there a divide in Ohio GOP between the two factions? 28:30 There used to be major distinctions within the parties 29:30 Nationalization of politics has stymied local distinctions within parties 30:30 The nationalization is now in everyone’s face everyday 33:00 Tech companies need to invest in communities where they put data centers 33:45 The data center tech is getting better, don’t have to use as much water 34:45 Need to invest in nuclear power in order to power the data center boom 35:30 Is Ohio in good hands with Ramaswamy or Acton as governor? 37:15 Shutdown decisions during COVID were the governor's choice. Buck stops with him 38:15 Is Ohio back to purple state status? 39:30 The governor and senate races will go down to the wire 40:00 Will this finally be Joe Burrow’s year?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joins the Chuck Toddcast in his final months in office and, freed from ever facing voters again, says exactly what he thinks. The headline is his reversal on capital punishment: DeWine helped write Ohio's death penalty statute as a state senator in 1981 and defended it as attorney general, but in June he called on the legislature to abolish it, saying the moral justification he once had simply no longer exists. He walks Chuck through the practical case — roughly 20 years on average from sentencing to execution, a process that structurally cannot be sped up — and the harder question a Republican has to answer about whether you can be both pro-life and pro-death penalty. That flows into a broader argument about criminal justice that DeWine says has been driven by emotion rather than logic: truly violent offenders are a small percentage of the prison population and those are the people who need to be removed from society, but it's in society's direct self-interest to educate and rehabilitate everyone else. He's equally out of step with his party on immigration, arguing America needs legal immigrants, that we've been educating them and then failing to keep them, that Ohio's economic gains have come from immigrants, and that they're critical to caring for an aging population. On Springfield, DeWine is direct: the Haitian population created real challenges for the community, but they work hard, and it is not in America's interest to deport people who are here and working. The conversation turns to the economy and the state's political future. DeWine calls the Canada trade war a genuine problem for Ohio — Canada is a major customer — and argues the country needs a real balance between domestic manufacturing and importing rather than a grudge match. On the data center boom reshaping Ohio politics, he says tech companies have an obligation to invest in the communities they move into, notes the technology has improved and no longer requires as much water, and makes the case that nuclear power is what will actually have to underwrite the buildout. He and Chuck get into whether there's a genuine divide between the two factions of the Ohio GOP, and DeWine offers a thoughtful answer about how the nationalization of politics has flattened the local distinctions that once existed inside both parties — and how that nationalization is now in everyone's face every single day. He takes ownership of the COVID shutdown decisions (the buck stopped with him), assesses whether Ohio is genuinely back to purple status with both the governor and Senate races going down to the wire, weighs in on whether the state is in good hands with either Vivek Ramaswamy or Amy Acton — and, of course, whether this is finally Joe Burrow's year. Play ball and swing for the fences on FanDuel, an official partner of the MLB at https://FANDUEL.COM.    Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.   For free and unbiased Medicare help, dial (980) 734-3985 to speak with my trusted partner, Chapter, or go to askchapter.org/chuck /  *Paid Partnership Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. 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Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options.    Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Governor Mike DeWine joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:15 More comfortable speaking out since not running for office 02:30 Mike’s argument against the death penalty 03:00 It takes 20 years on average from adjudication to execution 03:30 Death penalty process is not able to be sped up 05:00 We need to have legal immigrants admitted to America 06:15 We were educating immigrants, then not having them stay 07:00 Ohio’s economic increases have come from immigrants 07:30 Immigrants are critical to caring for our aging population 08:15 Can you be pro-life and pro-death penalty? 10:00 Putting an emphasis on rehabilitating prisoners 11:15 It’s in the self-interest of society to educate inmates 12:30 Emotion rather than logic & nuance drives the crime debate 13:30 Truly violent criminals are a very small percentage of the population 14:00 Violent criminals are the ones you have to get out of society 15:15 America goes through pro-immigration and anti-immigration phases 16:00 We need people who want to work  16:30 Haitians in Springfield created challenges, but they work hard 17:30 It’s not in our interest to deport people who are here and working 18:45 Haiti is a major challenge 21:45 Canada trade war is a problem, they’re a major customer for Ohio 23:30 Need a balance between manufacturing here and importing 25:45 Is there a divide in Ohio GOP between the two factions? 28:30 There used to be major distinctions within the parties 29:30 Nationalization of politics has stymied local distinctions within parties 30:30 The nationalization is now in everyone’s face everyday 33:00 Tech companies need to invest in communities where they put data centers 33:45 The data center tech is getting better, don’t have to use as much water 34:45 Need to invest in nuclear power in order to power the data center boom 35:30 Is Ohio in good hands with Ramaswamy or Acton as governor? 37:15 Shutdown decisions during COVID were the governor's choice. Buck stops with him 38:15 Is Ohio back to purple state status? 39:30 The governor and senate races will go down to the wire 40:00 Will this finally be Joe Burrow’s year?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.