Race for Ohio attorney general pits longtime state leader against attorney hoping for change

Ohio voters will decide who the newest state attorney general will be in an open race to decide the state’s chief law enforcement officer and legal counsel.

The most recent elected attorney general, Dave Yost, resigned in June to take a position with a Christian non-profit law firm called Alliance Defending Freedom. Governor Mike DeWine appointed his public safety director, Andy Wilson, to fill in as interim attorney general until a new one is elected.

Vying for the job on the Republican ticket is current Auditor of State Keith Faber, and attorney John Kulewicz stands on the Democratic side.

Faber has been in Ohio politics for decades, serving in both chambers of the legislature, and as Senate president before moving to the Ohio Auditor’s Office.

Kulewicz has had a four-decade career as a private attorney for Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, LLP, and has sat on Upper Arlington’s city council.

As the campaign moves toward the Nov. 3 general election, Faber has touted his years of government experience, including criminal cases that were conducted by the auditor’s office to root out “waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Kulewicz has promoted his experience as a legal professional over the last 40 years as part of his campaign, but also pointed to a need for change after three decades of Republican leadership and the negative impacts he says it’s had on the state.

In an interview with the Capital Journal this week, Kulewicz said voters have made clear what they want to see from elected officials in Ohio like the attorney general.

“I literally see people who have woken up all over Ohio to the fact that 36 years of almost uninterrupted one-party rule has gotten us nowhere,” Kulewicz said. “We’re far behind, we are hurting economically, we are making less and less, and we are having to pay more and more for everything.”

Working his way across the state during the campaign, the Democrat said he’s run into tried-and-true Republicans who are now considering other options. Many people from all over the political spectrum, including a man at a football game in Middletown, have told him they are looking for a moment without chaos.

“The guy who nailed it, I thought, he told me ‘we’ve got to stop the insanity,’” Kulewicz told the Capital Journal. “People want to correct things.”

As attorney general, he said he wants to be in the courtroom as much as he is managing the office.

“I want to be an attorney general who actually goes to court, I want to have a caseload, I want to be in court,” he said.

Faber was unavailable for an interview with the Capital Journal for this article.

The issues

In a debate between Faber and Kulewicz hosted by the Youngstown Press Club, the state auditor pledged to bring “the experience, the skill, and the vision” to the office of attorney general.

During the debate, Faber said his priorities as attorney general would be on cybercrime, human trafficking, elder abuse, and “those companies that are taking advantage of Ohio.”

He and Kulewicz disagreed on most things, including Ohio being involved in multi-state lawsuits, where Kulewicz wants to hold back on those types of cases unless “they’re going to make a fundamental difference to the people of Ohio.”

In Faber’s view, there are times when it’s “a very important priority for Ohio to engage” in multi-state lawsuits.

“If you’ve got a case where the federal government is trying to encroach on Ohio’s sovereignty, it’s important to be able to push back on that,” Faber told the Youngstown audience.

Faber also promised to support federal immigration enforcement officials, push for the regulated use of Flock cameras, and litigate a resolution to the court case regarding Ohio House Bill 6’s energy company bailouts, and the leaders of FirstEnergy. The previous court case against FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and VP Mike Dowling ended in a hung jury.

“We’re going to prosecute that case, that case will already be going on by the time I’m sworn in as your attorney general,” Faber said.

But he said it’s important for him as a prosecutor to get all the facts about the case when he comes into the office, rather than to comment on it before he’s the lead lawyer for the state.

Kulewicz pushed back on Faber’s comments, saying “we have all the evidence we need.”

“I have no hesitation in saying I have every intention in going forward with that trial,” Kulewicz said.

On the topic of immigration enforcement, Kulewicz and Faber both support doing what is required by law when it comes to federal enforcement, but past the letter of federal law, they differ.

Kulewicz called immigrants “the backbone of this nation” and said he was “100% for” lawful immigration.

“To the extent that the state of Ohio is required to cooperate in enforcement of immigration laws, of course we will do that,” he said during the Youngstown debate. “But to the extent that it is discretionary, I’d rather spend our resources on enforcement of our state and local laws.”

Faber said “it’s key” that local law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration officials.

“Where you have problems is when local communities decide they want to be a sanctuary community, and they don’t cooperate with federal law enforcement, that leads to all sorts of potential conflicts,” Faber said.

The two agree when it comes to capital punishment, in that state laws are in place for the use of the method, so the attorney general’s office has a role in litigating death penalty cases.

“It’s up to the legislature, the general assembly, to decide the state policy on capital punishment, but the reality is if we’re going to have it, it needs to be utilized, it needs to be carried out, and it needs to be administered in a fair and a transparent way,” Faber said in Youngstown.

Kulewicz said he had concerns about potential alternative chemicals that have been discussed nationally, but overall said Ohio’s laws are appropriate.

“I believe the people of Ohio and the Ohio General Assembly have appropriately observed capital punishment for only the most severe offenses, and they have done so wisely,” Kulewicz said.

Early in-person voting, along with military, overseas, and absentee voting are already underway in Ohio ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.

Absentee ballots must be received by local boards of elections by election day. The last day for early in-person voting is Nov. 1. Election-Day voting begins at 6:30 a.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m.