COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced plans Tuesday to resume his annual State of the State address, ending a two-year hiatus as he heads into a competitive reelection race.
The Republican governor said he will deliver the big policy speech in the Ohio House chamber at noon March 23. DeWine delivered his first and only State of the State in 2019, only months after he was elected.
The speech he had scheduled for 2020 was initially postponed, then canceled amid the budding coronavirus pandemic. The limitations of life under COVID-19 also led DeWine to skip the speech last year.
This year's address will fall between perhaps the best news of DeWine's first term — a $20 billion investment by chipmaker Intel in a new Ohio factory — and the first televised debate of the competitive Republican gubernatorial primary hosted by the Ohio Debate Commission. That faceoff is scheduled for March 29.
