VAN WERT — While many local Van Wert residents see the Van Wert County Fair as a form of entertainment or a place to get a bite to eat, Ohio Supreme Court candidate Judge Pat DeWine took it as an opportunity to introduce himself to the community.
DeWine, who currently serves on the First District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, stopped by the fair to let people know who he is and what he stands for.
“Our goal is to talk to as many voters as possible,” he said on Wednesday afternoon. “I think fairs are a great place to do that. I love fairs. I grew up in Greene County, going to the fair, showing lambs at our county fair, so fairs are something that comes natural to me.”
Although he serves and lives in Cincinnati, he grew up in rural Greene County, Ohio, with his family who was in the seed business.
“I grew up working on a farm,” DeWine said. “I relate to people in rural Ohio.”
DeWine was set up at the Van Wert County Republican booth in the Commercial Building greeting fair goers as the came by.
“I try to talk to people at the fair about what I think about the Constitution, how my philosophy is to apply the laws that’s written and to stick to the Constitution and not legislate from the bench,” DeWine said.
DeWine understands the Ohio Supreme Court race is not at the forefront of everyone’s mind when thinking of the November election.
“One of our challenges is that people probably don’t think about the Supreme Court races as much as the other races,” he noted. “They all think about the president or the US Senate race. Part of challenge is to go to people and educate them why the courts are so important.”
DeWine feels that his duty as a judge is simply to stick to the Constitution.
“We have too many activist judges in this country and I am one who believes in judicial restraint and is a Constitutional conservative,” he said.