Ohio Democrats: Attorney general’s son faces conflict of interest

COLUMBUS (AP) — Democrats say Republican appeals court judge Pat DeWine faces a monumental conflict of interest if elected to the state Supreme Court next month because his father is Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.

The party says Pat DeWine would have to frequently step down since his father’s office often has cases before the court.

Atty. Jonathan Coughlan, a legal ethics expert, tells the Ohio Democratic Party that Pat DeWine would have to excuse himself from all those cases.

Pat DeWine and his supporters disagree strongly and say he received assurances from the top staffer for the Supreme Court’s judicial ethics board as soon as his father was elected that no such conflict existed as long as his father wasn’t in court.