Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will run for reelection in 2022 and skip a campaign for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portman, sources confirmed Sunday evening.
Yost is part of a growing list of prominent Republicans who have opted out of the Senate race. Lt. Gov. John Husted and Rep. Jim Jordan, an ally of former President Donald Trump who is popular with grassroots conservatives, have also said no — despite the appeal of running for an open seat in a midterm election with President Biden in the White House in a state that has recently grown more Republican.
Yost, a low-key Republican who did his best to avoid some of the intramural fights plaguing the GOP, will announce plans to seek another term as attorney general on Monday. His prospects in the 2022 Senate primary would have been uncertain. Some wealthy would-be contenders capable of self-funding are eyeing the campaign, as are some Republicans more closely aligned with Trump and that have embraced his combative populism.
However, Yost was enticed to stick around Columbus by the prospect that the attorney general office will have plenty of work to do defending Ohio against the anticipated regulatory excesses of the Biden administration. Portman early last week announced he would retire from the Senate after two terms, setting off a scramble among Ohio Republicans, and Democrats, to succeed him.
Trump, who is popular among Ohio Republicans, defeated Biden in the state last November by more than 8 percentage points.
