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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will resign to join the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom, leaving a vacancy for Gov. Mike DeWine to fill

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — There will be a big shake up coming among Republicans in state government, as one of the five term-limited statewide executive officeholders is set to suddenly resign from that post.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaking.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks during an election night watch party, Nov. 8, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. [Jay LaPrete | AP, File]
Sources confirmed to the Statehouse News Bureau that Attorney General Dave Yost will resign from that office Thursday to accept a private sector job. If Yost departs immediately, he would be leaving state government after 25 years, with around eight months left in his second term as AG.

According press release from the Alliance Defending Freedom, Yost will join the conservative non-profit legal organization as Vice President of Strategic Research and Innovation.

“This is a moment of unprecedented change and uncertainty, and the stakes for our foundational freedoms could not be higher,” said Yost. “I’ve been passionate about religious liberty, free speech, parental rights, and human dignity for a long time, and to now bring my legal and advocacy skills to bear alongside the best constitutional lawyers in the world is an extraordinary opportunity.”

Yost is term limited and started a campaign for governor at the start of 2025, but dropped out of the race last May after Vivek Ramaswamy joined the race and secured endorsements from the Ohio Republican Party and President Trump.

Gov. Mike DeWine could appoint someone who would hold the AG’s office till the end of Yost’s term in January. However, Auditor Keith Faber is an option, as he’s running for AG. But that could set off a chain reaction, as Secretary of State Frank LaRose is running for auditor, treasurer Robert Sprague won the Republican primary for secretary of state on Tuesday, and former Rep. Jay Edwards also just won the GOP nomination for treasurer.

Yost had planned to run for attorney general in 2010, but left that race as DeWine got into it. Yost ran for auditor instead, and he and DeWine both won. Yost served two terms in that office before he was elected to his first term as attorney general in 2018.

In March 2025, before he left the race for governor, Yost sat for an interview on “The State of Ohio” and was asked about his decision to run for that office.

“I’m pursuing the the direction that is on my heart,” Yost said. “I care about the people of this state, and I’m going to keep going as long as they’ll have me as their servant.”

(Editor’s Note 5/7/25 5:42 p.m.): This story has been updated to include the position Yost is taking with the ADF.