Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving since 2019 as the 70th governor of Ohio. He served as the 50th Attorney General of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, and in both houses of Congress: in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 1991 and in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. DeWine was born in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1947. He graduated from Miami University with a bachelor's degree in 1969 and earned a Juris Doctor from Ohio Northern University College of Law in 1972. After graduation, DeWine worked as an assistant prosecutor for Greene County and was elected county prosecutor, serving one term. He continued his political career in the Ohio Senate in 1980. He served as a U.S. representative from 1983 until 1991. In 1991 he was sworn in as the 59th lieutenant governor of Ohio, under George Voinovich. DeWine was elected to the United States Senate in a landslide in the 1994 Republican Revolution. He served in the Senate until his defeat by Sherrod Brown in 2006. DeWine returned to politics four years later and became the 50th attorney general of Ohio, serving from 2011 to 2019. He was elected governor in 2018. During DeWine's first term as governor, a shooting in Dayton prompted him to urge the Ohio legislature to enact new gun control measures, such as expanding background checks and harsher penalties for those in possession of unregistered firearms. In early 2020, DeWine received national attention for his COVID-19 response, ordering the closing of dine-in restaurant service and sporting events and delegated additional resources to elderly care facilities. He was reelected by a landslide 25% margin against Democratic nominee Nan Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton, in 2022.