For attorney general: DeWine

Attorney General

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The Nov. 4 race for Ohio attorney general comes down to who’s more believable, the Republican incumbent, Mike DeWine, or his Democratic challenger, David Pepper.

Pepper, a former Hamilton County commissioner, has accused DeWine, who is seeking a second four-year term, of rewarding major campaign contributors with lucrative outside legal counsel contracts for tax and debt collections.

The attorney general has vehemently denied the “pay-to-play” charge. It is noteworthy that he is not the target of any government corruption investigation and has insisted that all contracts given out by his office were in accordance with long-standing rules.

It’s up to the voters to decide whether DeWine is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

We are willing to give the incumbent the benefit of the doubt for one reason: Had he been vulnerable to any corruption charge, he would not have launched a high-profile criminal investigation in Mahoning County of a prominent businessman and several leading officeholders.

To date, three individuals have been charged in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court with attempting to derail Mahoning County government’s purchase of the Oakhill Renaissance Place, the former Southside Medical Center.

The three are: county Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, a Democrat seeking re-election this year; Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, relating to his tenure as a county commissioner; and Youngstown Atty. Martin Yavorcik.

In a nutshell, the defendants and others are accused of being part of a criminal enterprise that sought to assist the businessman, Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., in his effort to block the relocation of the county’s Job and Family Services agency from the Cafaro Co.-owned Garland Plaza to Oakhill Renaissance.

Full-fledged criminal trial

We have long sought a full-fledged criminal trial of all the alleged conspirators, which is why we have been unwavering in our support of Attorney General DeWine, whose staff is assisting Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty.

The Oakhill Renaissance conspiracy case goes to the heart of the Mahoning Valley’s long history of government corruption. The brazenness with which elected officials have used their public offices for personal gain speaks to a culture that has given this region a national black eye.

It must end — and we believe that DeWine is just the person to do that.

We understand that voters outside the Mahoning Valley will view the race for attorney general through different prisms, but for our region there is only one issue that matters: the aggressive prosecution of the alleged perpetrators of the Oakhill Renaissance conspiracy.

The Vindicator endorses DeWine for a second term as attorney general and urges him to move forward boldly.