appointed his public safety director

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has chosen Public Safety Director Andy Wilson to replace Attorney General Dave Yost, who is stepping down from office in June.

“We are going to lead with energy and passion, and we’re going to serve each other,” Wilson said at the press conference.

Yost announced he would resign, effective June 7, to take a job with Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian nonprofit law firm.

“The people deserve an attorney general who fights crime, who seeks justice, and again, who wakes up every morning with the focus of keeping them safe,” Wilson said.

Wilson is a longtime ally of DeWine’s and has worked for decades as an attorney.

Previously, he served as Clark County prosecutor and as an Ohio National Guard member. In 2022, he joined Pike County law enforcement to help prosecute the 2016 Rhoden-family mass murders.

He has been part of violence-reduction initiatives and the state’s expedited pardon project. He also worked to better train law enforcement and improve school safety. In his role now, he oversees a $2.5 billion biannual budget.

As an aside, Wilson and DeWine conducted an “undercover sting operation” together, sending in Wilson’s teenage nephew to buy low-level marijuana from a convenience store.

When Yost announced his resignation, we interviewed Wilson. The Safety Director thanked Yost for his years of public service.

“Attorney General Yost has dedicated his entire professional career to keeping people safe … wish him the best in everything that he’s going to do,” Wilson said.

We also asked him if he was going to be the AG-appointee, to which he laughed and took off the microphone, playfully, declining to comment further.

“Andy Wilson was clearly, in my mind, the right person,” DeWine said, noting that he didn’t think he agreed that he and Yost were that different.

Yost and DeWine disagreed about the death penalty, transgender healthcare, immigration, voting laws, and more.

When asked how he would address the Trump administration’s priorities, Wilson said he would always uphold the law, no matter the political issue.

He said he would start speaking with the AG’s team as soon as possible, especially on the future of cases, like the retrial of former FirstEnergy executives that ended in a hung jury in March.

“I got to sit down with the trial team,” Wilson said. “Let’s talk about it. It’s a mistrial. I wanna know why it was a mistrial.”

He will only be in the position for seven months, as a new attorney general will be voted into office in November. DeWine decided to go with Wilson over GOP nominee Keith Faber, who is currently the state auditor.

“The idea of appointing one or maybe all of the statewide officeholders, which was certainly a distinct possibility and certainly was an option, just didn’t seem right to me,” DeWine said.

If Faber had gotten Yost’s job, a chain reaction of appointments could have taken place.

Faber’s seat would’ve opened for Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who is running for auditor. LaRose’s seat would then open for current Treasurer Robert Sprague.

While Faber was up for it, LaRose told us Thursday he “fully intended” to stay secretary. That could have prevented a move-up for Sprague.

“We’re only six months away from the election,” DeWine continued. “For me to step in as governor and appoint literally every single statewide office holder, it just didn’t look right to me, didn’t seem right to me, didn’t seem like something that I should do.”

This is the fourth major appointment DeWine has had to make in recent years.

In 2022, DeWine appointed Joe Deters to the Ohio Supreme Court after a vacancy was left. In 2024, after then-Senator JD Vance was elected Vice President, he appointed his lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, to fill that spot in D.C. Then, he appointed former OSU football coach Jim Tressel as his second in command.

Yost congratulated Wilson following the announcement.

“Governor DeWine’s appointment of Andy Wilson is a wise selection to ensure that the mission of the office and the great progress we’ve made in the past seven-plus years remains in steady hands,” Yost said in a statement. “As a former county prosecuting attorney, Andy understands law enforcement and the Attorney General’s Office. As director of the Department of Public Safety, our offices have frequently collaborated to keep Ohioans safe.”

Yost has served as attorney general since 2019. Prior to that, he was the state auditor.

His political dreams of being governor evaporated in 2025, when the state GOP endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy. He suspended his campaign soon after, and has since kept a low profile. He is the only statewide Republican besides DeWine who is not currently running for office.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.