State Watch

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost expected to resign

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by Adam Conn - 05/07/26 9:01 AM ET

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by Adam Conn - 05/07/26 9:01 AM ET

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost is expected to resign, eight months before the end of his term.

Yost is ineligible for reelection and an attempt to run for governor in 2026 failed to gain sufficient momentum after billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy entered the race with the support of President Donald Trump and an early endorsement from the Ohio Republican Party. Ramaswamy advanced to the November general election out of Tuesday’s primary.

Yost’s resignation was reported by our partners at The Columbus Dispatch.

The political career of Yost spans 25 years when he began as Delaware County auditor in 1999. He was appointed county prosecutor in 2003 and elected as state auditor in 2010, but not before attempting a run at Attorney General against current Gov. Mike DeWine.

Yost was eventually elected as the state’s top law enforcement agent in 2018. In seeking to governor, he would have replaced DeWine, who is also term-limited.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth, File)

DeWine will now be tasked with announcing an interim attorney general. Auditor Keith Faber is already running for the position in November, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose is running for Faber’s current role. On Tuesday, Treasurer Robert Sprague won the GOP primary for secretary of state, and Jay Edwards won the nomination for Sprague’s spot as treasurer.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending constitutional protections for abortion, Yost announced Ohio’s heartbeat bill was state law, prohibiting abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Two years earlier, Yost filed a brief in support of Trump’s attempt to disallow ballots cast in Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election. He later opposed a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who attempted to prevent Joe Biden from being certified as president elect.

Biden was later not granted provisional approval by Yost as the Democratic presidential nominee on Ohio ballots for the 2024 election. His decision was overturned by state lawmakers.

Yost notably spearheaded two federal lawsuits in the aftermath of the East Palestine train derailment – a 58-count civil suit against Norfolk Southern in pursuit of costs related to cleanup and environmental damages. Additionally, he sued Mike Peppel and the “Ohio Clean Water Fund” for allegedly raising over $141,000 guised as relief for East Palestine residents. The sham charity was ordered to reimburse more than $131,000 in donations.

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