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11/7/2018
Republican Dave Yost won about 53 percent of the vote to win Ohio’s Attorney General position, defeating Democrat Steve Dettelbach.
In Athens County, Dettelbach received 64.93 percent of the vote, while Yost got 35.07 percent.
As Ohio’s 32nd Auditor, Yost’s public corruption investigations have resulted in more than 165 criminal convictions, and he’s found more than $260 million in potential taxpayer savings, according to his website.
Ohio Attorney General - Elect Dave Yost
Yost also served as the elected prosecutor for Delaware County for eight years and before that, he served on the city council and as county auditor. During his time as prosecutor, Yost won the first capital murder case in the county’s history and took down the county’s largest drug ring.
“He’s got experience as a state auditor, he was a state attorney,” Athens County Republicans Chair Pete Couladis said. “He understands both side of that so, I think he understand the job and what needs to be done and it’s always new challenges coming up. What may be an issue today may not be an issue a year from now.
During his campaign, Yost focused on his past work such as establishing a constitutional amendment to ban special interest monopolies from taking over Ohio law, his office’s role in making it a criminal penalty for public officials to knowingly use public funds for political campaigns and saving taxpayers more than $1 million as auditor.
He has also campaigned on the fact that he revealed the Columbus City Schools data scrubbing scandal and has worked to pass landmark charter school reforms to strengthen accountability and provide transparency, according to his website.
“Chances are that we will see a very typical Republican agenda which is going to be seeing minimal government, I think that’s what his office will put out, they will not overreach,” Anirudh Ruhil, a professor in Ohio University's Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, said.
With Mike DeWine being the former Attorney General, it is assumed that a similar office will be seen.
“There’s a good staff already there in the Attorney General’s office under Mike DeWine so it’s not like you’re going to bring in a whole new crew of people and I assume they will pick up where DeWine leaves off and take it from there,” Couladis said.
Although the position does not dictate many policy changes, it proves to be important and necessary.
“This position is a breeding ground for Ohio gubernatorial candidates,” OU College Republicans Political Director Cole Neuhart said.
The Yost campaign did not respond to comment.
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