Yost, 68, is a former Delaware County prosecutor and journalist who spent the past 14 years as a statewide official, beginning with an eight-year stint as state auditor. He then ran successful campaigns for attorney general in 2018 and in 2022, serving as Ohio’s top law enforcement official.
In his time as AG, Yost’s office has undertaken a plethora of high-profile cases, including efforts to protect the state’s ability to ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. He has taken aggressive stances against pharmaceutical companies and successfully defended a state law that bans gender-affirming medical care for minors. And, he has brought down charges on former FirstEnergy executives involved in the largest bribery scheme in Ohio history.
On Wednesday, Yost penned a letter to Department of Homeland Security chair nominee Kristi Noem urging her to, if confirmed, review the government’s use of Temporary Protected Status, an immigration tool for foreigners fleeing stricken countries that has allowed many of Springfield’s Haitian immigrants to legally live in the United States.
“This program has been applied too loosely, allowing noncitizens to live here indefinitely, even after it’s safe for them to return home,” said Yost, who did not specifically mention Haiti in the letter.
In his candidacy announcement, Yost indicated that he’d support President Donald Trump’s agenda in Ohio and touted himself as an “America-first” attorney general.
“As Ohio Attorney General, Yost protected Ohioans’ Second Amendment rights and fought in court against the Biden administration’s open-border policies. He succeeded in winning legal battles against federal overreach and won a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses,” his initial campaign statement reads.
He is the first official big-name Republican candidate in what threatens to be a crowded GOP primary to replace DeWine — who also ascended from AG to governor — with both former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague reported to be joining the fray soon.
On the Democratic side, only Amy Acton, the former Ohio Department of Health director who led DeWine’s COVID-19 response, has entered the gubernatorial race so far.
“I’m running for Governor because I refuse to look away from Ohioans who are struggling,” Acton said in a press release when she announce her candidacy earlier this year. “Ohioans need a Governor who will solve problems and give us all a little breathing room, not another self-interested politician.”
For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It’s free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening.
Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
About the Author
