2018 Ohio Attorney General election

2018 Ohio Attorney General election

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Turnout	55.79% [1] 15.14pp
Nominee Dave Yost Steve Dettelbach Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,276,414 2,086,715 Percentage 52.17% 47.83%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Yost:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Dettelbach:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Tie:     50%     No votes
Attorney General before election Mike DeWine Republican Elected Attorney General Dave Yost Republican

The 2018 Ohio Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the attorney general of Ohio. ^[2]

Incumbent Attorney General Mike DeWine was term-limited and ran for governor. ^[3] Republican nominee and Ohio State Auditor Dave Yost defeated Democratic nominee and former US Attorney Steve Dettelbach in the general election. ^[4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Dave Yost, State Auditor ^[5]

Declined

• Keith Faber, state representative and former Ohio Senate President (ran for State Auditor) ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Yost	642,717	100.0
Total votes			642,717	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Steve Dettelbach, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio ^[9]

Declined

• Connie Pillich, former state representative and nominee for Ohio State Treasurer in 2014 (ran for Governor) ^{[10] [11]}
• Joe Schiavoni, Minority Leader of the Ohio Senate (ran for Governor) ^{[10] [12]}

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Dettelbach	510,741	100.0
Total votes			510,741	100.0

General election

Candidates

• Dave Yost, State Auditor
• Steve Dettelbach, former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio

Endorsements

Dave Yost (R)

Organizations

• Ohio Chamber of Commerce ^[13]
• Ohio Society of CPAs ^[14]

Newspapers

• The Columbus Dispatch ^[15]

Steve Dettelbach (D)

Politicians

• Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States ^[16]
• Joe Biden, 47th Vice President of the United States ^[17]

Newspapers

• Akron Beacon Journal ^[18]
• The Chronicle Telegram
• Plain Dealer ^[19]
• The Toledo Blade ^[20]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Dave Yost (R)	Steve Dettelbach (D)	Undecided
Cygnal (R) [21]	October 30–31, 2018	503	± 4.4%	46%	43%	12%
Baldwin Wallace University [22]	October 19–27, 2018	1,051	± 3.8%	38%	40%	20%
Change Research (D-Innovation Ohio) [23]	August 31 – September 4, 2018	822	± 3.0%	41%	37%	22%
Fallon Research [24]	May 21–25, 2018	800	± 3.5%	41%	32%	27%

Results

Dave Yost won the general election by a 4.34% margin of victory. ^[25]

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dave Yost	2,276,414	52.17%	−9.33%
	Democratic	Steve Dettelbach	2,086,715	47.83%	+9.33%
Total votes			4,363,129	100.0	N/A
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Yost won 12 of 16 congressional districts. ^[26]

District	Yost	Dettelbach	Representative
1st	53%	47%	Steve Chabot
2nd	56%	44%	Brad Wenstrup
3rd	31%	69%	Joyce Beatty
4th	65%	35%	Jim Jordan
5th	60%	40%	Bob Latta
6th	66%	34%	Bill Johnson
7th	61%	39%	Bob Gibbs
8th	66%	34%	Warren Davidson
9th	36%	64%	Marcy Kaptur
10th	53%	47%	Mike Turner
11th	18%	82%	Marcia Fudge
12th	56%	44%	Pat Tiberi
13th	43%	57%	Tim Ryan
14th	52%	48%	David Joyce
15th	57%	43%	Steve Stivers
16th	54%	46%	Anthony Gonzalez

See also

• 2018 Ohio elections
• 2018 United States attorney general elections

References

1. "Voter Turnout in General Elections". Ohio Secretary of State.
2. "Ohio Election Results". The New York Times. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
3. "Ohio Attorney General election, 2018". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on May 23, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
4. "OH Attorney General". Our Campaigns. December 7, 2018. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
5. Ludlow, Randy (January 24, 2017). "Auditor Dave Yost announces run for Ohio attorney general". The Columbus Dispatch . Retrieved January 26, 2017.
6. Siegel, Jim (September 11, 2015). "Faber expects 2018 statewide run". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
7. "Faber won't run for Boehner's seat, McGregor still undecided". Dayton Daily News . October 8, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
8. Ludlow, Randy (January 31, 2017). "Keith Faber confirms run for state auditor". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
9. Tobias, Andrew J. (May 30, 2017). "Former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach launches bid for Ohio attorney general". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved May 31, 2017.
10. Gomez, Henry J. (November 22, 2016). "Steve Dettelbach stakes an early claim to 2018 attorney general race: Ohio Politics Roundup". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
11. Pelzer, Jeremy (March 13, 2017). "Former lawmaker Connie Pillich enters race for Ohio governor". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
12. Gomez, Henry J. (March 1, 2017). "Joe Schiavoni makes run for governor official". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
13. Rich Thompson (August 29, 2018). OHIO CHAMBER BACKS YOST FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL AND LAROSE FOR SECRETARY OF STATE.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
14. "DeWine, Husted, Yost & Sprague earn OSCPA endorsements". Ohio Society of CPAs. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
15. "For Ohio attorney general: Dave Yost is the better choice". The Columbus Dispatch. September 23, 2018. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
16. Barack Obama [@BarackObama] (August 1, 2018). "Today I'm proud to endorse such a wide and impressive array of Democratic candidates – leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they're running to represent" (Tweet). Retrieved August 1, 2018– via Twitter.
17. Steve Dettelbach. ".@JoeBiden: "This November, the future of Ohio is on the ballot; That's why I'm supporting Steve Dettelbach for Ohio Attorney General."". Twitter.
18. "Steve Dettelbach for attorney general". Akron Beacon Journal. October 14, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
19. "Steve Dettelbach for Ohio attorney general: endorsement editorial". The Plain Dealer. January 19, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
20. "Dettelbach for Attorney General". The Toledo Blade. October 31, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
21. Cygnal (R)
22. Baldwin Wallace University
23. Change Research (D-Innovation Ohio)
24. Fallon Research
25. "2018 Attorney General General Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections. December 15, 2018. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021.
26. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.