Most Ohio lawmakers think AG Yost will drop his bid for governor
By Marty Schladen
Ohio Capital Journal
A majority, 64%, of Ohio lawmakers who responded to a survey think Attorney General Dave Yost will drop his long-planned bid for governor. That includes 68% of his fellow Republicans and 56% of Democrats, according to the Gongwer-Werth Legislative Poll released Thursday.
It was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 44 of the state’s 132 lawmakers responded.
In a related question, 35% said Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel would seek the 2026 Republican nomination to be governor, 47% said he wouldn’t, and 19% were undecided.
On the Democratic side, 33% of respondents said former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown would run for that body again next year. Twenty-six percent said he’d run for governor, and 42% were either undecided or said he’d run for neither seat.
A majority, 51%, said former U.S. Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Tim Ryan would seek the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Just 12% said he’d run for Senate again, and the rest were undecided or said he’d run for neither.
Former Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton is currently the only Democratic primary candidate in the race.
At this point, the Republican race to succeed Gov. Mike DeWine is the topic of the most fervent speculation among the races surveyed. The Gongwer-Werth poll gives a peek at what’s being said among lawmakers.
Yost had been vying with former Lt. Gov. Jon Husted for the GOP nomination.
But businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who is close to President Donald Trump, expressed an interest. Then Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by J.D. Vance when he was elevated to the vice presidency.
Trump endorsed Ramaswamy shortly after his inauguration, and then the Ohio Republican Party followed suit last Friday.
While speculation rages about the future of the Yost campaign, Tressel remains a wild card. DeWine appointed him lieutenant governor after elevating Husted, and it was seen by some as a shrewd maneuver against a MAGA wing of the party with which DeWine has at times been at odds.
In early 2021, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the Republican-dominated General Assembly passed a bill that would weaken the governor’s ability to issue health orders. DeWine vetoed it and the legislature overrode his veto — even though he was at least nominally the head of the party in Ohio.
In 2023, Trump accused DeWine of having “fallen to the Radical Left” over his veto of a law that would ban gender-affirming care to minors. And DeWine last year published an op-ed in the New York Times criticizing Trump and Vance for promoting racist lies about Haitian immigrants in Springfield.
Last week, Tressel confirmed that he was considering a run for governor.
As head coach of a national-championship-winning Ohio State football team, Tressel has high name recognition. And his mild demeanor might generate some crossover appeal.
Also, up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, Ramaswamy helped Elon Musk set up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. As it tries to slash funding and personnel for veterans benefits, Social Security, national parks, and public health, the unofficial agency might not be popular by the time voters start tuning into the governor’s race next year.
For his part, the Democrat Brown had held statewide office and was in the U.S. Congress when he ousted DeWine from his U.S. Senate seat in 2006. Brown held it until November, when he lost to Cleveland car dealer Bernie Moreno in one of the most expensive races in history.
Brown hasn’t ruled out running again for Senate — where he would face Husted next year — or for governor.
Ryan, who lost to Vance in 2022 by a six-point margin, said he’d make a decision this summer about again running for statewide office.