Author

OCJ Editor-in-Chief David DeWitt has more than 15 years experience covering Ohio government, politics and policy, including education, health care, crime and courts, poverty, state and local government, business, labor, energy, environment, and social issues. He has worked for the National Journal, The New York Observer, The Athens NEWS, and Plunderbund.com. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is a board member of the E.W. Scripps Society of Alumni and Friends. He can be found on Twitter @DC_DeWitt.
Today’s Inanity: Bill Seitz threatening to attack voters out of spite
By: David DeWitt - June 3, 2021
Voting is the most fundamental freedom and important tool citizens of a constitutional republic have to hold their elected representatives responsible for faithfully representing their best interests. But state Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, is threatening to make election law changes even more restrictive for voters, apparently out of spite. From the Cincinnati Enquirer (subscribers […]
Transgender athlete bills don’t solve any pressing issue. They’re just bullying
By: David DeWitt - May 5, 2021
Two bills are working their way through the Ohio General Assembly that do not solve any pressing issues in high school athletics; they simply target and needlessly victimize five Ohio children in a cynical attempt to score cheap political points. I’m referring to Ohio House Bill 61 and Senate Bill 132, which would ban transgender girls from […]
Increase support for child care in Ohio. This is a no-brainer.
By: David DeWitt - April 23, 2021
When I talk to my friends who have children and they tell me how much child care costs, I cringe. Often the figures they throw out resemble the price tag of tuition. According to Child Care Aware of America, the average price of center-based infant child care in Ohio is indeed nearly the same as […]
Ohio Republicans go full Calhoun on nullification. Never go full Calhoun.
By: David DeWitt - April 15, 2021
Ohio Republicans in the state legislature have apparently decided to go full Calhoun with a proposed bill attempting to nullify not only any federal gun laws they don’t like but also any court rulings related to gun laws with which they disagree. They do not possess the power to do this under the U.S. Constitution, […]
Cavs’ Larry Nance Jr. says LGBTQ discrimination protection bill is about human rights
By: David DeWitt - February 24, 2021
Like many Ohioans, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Larry Nance Jr. was caught by surprise when he learned the state has no law protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. When he found out Ohioans could be evicted from their homes or denied service in a restaurant or other business solely because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, […]
Donald Trump is a traitor
By: David DeWitt - January 9, 2021
All that noise you’re hearing — the cacophony of bells, whistles, drums and tambourines ringing out BLM whataboutism, false Antifa allegations, Twitter censorship grievance, and it-was-just-a-few-bad-actors evasions — it’s all an attempt at distraction. It’s an attempt at distraction from President Donald Trump proving himself a traitor to the United States of America. In his […]
Remembering lessons from my grandfather after losing him to COVID-19
By: David DeWitt - December 11, 2020
This morning, I’m driving up to Ashtabula to deliver a remembrance of my grandpa after he passed from complications due to COVID-19 on Nov. 29. His funeral mass will only be attended by some members of my immediate family. I won’t be able to get close to them, as I’m not yet out of the […]
Celebrating one year of the Ohio Capital Journal
By: David DeWitt - December 4, 2020
What a difference a year makes, eh? When we launched the Ohio Capital Journal on Dec. 4, 2019, we knew there was a big appetite for strong, incisive coverage of our state government and its impact on our lives. We had no idea the coming year would be of such critical importance to the health […]
Trump, Republican enablers busy proving they are a threat to the integrity of the American Republic
By: David DeWitt - November 11, 2020
Words matter. The words of America’s elected leaders matter. Their silence matters, too. Take the coronavirus pandemic. Following the lead of President Donald Trump, hundreds of elected officials across the country — including many in Ohio — have argued against the use of face masks in spite of overwhelming scientific consensus that they represent the […]
Taking stock of the 2020 Election results in Ohio and their consequences
By: David DeWitt - November 4, 2020
While the U.S. anxiously awaits the results of an extremely close presidential election, the results in Ohio are becoming far more clear. The long and short of it appears to be: President Donald Trump has won in Ohio (by an eight point margin, the same spread as 2016, and two points higher than his winning […]
All Ohio U.S. Congressional incumbents win reelection, Associated Press projects
By: David DeWitt - November 3, 2020
All of Ohio’s U.S. Congressional district incumbents both Republican and Democratic have won reelection according to projections from the Associated Press based on unofficial results. The AP has called the races in favor of incumbent Democratic U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur, Marcia Fudge, and Tim Ryan, as well as Republican incumbents Steve Chabot, Troy […]
Control over the federal courts is about raw political power, nothing more
By: David DeWitt - September 23, 2020
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has used his leadership position to exercise raw political power in shaping the federal judiciary for many decades to come, and he’s been enormously successful. The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has brought McConnell to the zenith of that power. A question never existed as to whether he […]