Good riddance, Dave Yost

Blog | May 13, 2026

On Monday, we celebrated the early exit of now-former Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Having prematurely excused himself from the primary race to be the Republican nominee for governor, Dave apparently realized he wasn’t wanted by either the citizens or his party so he quit his job. Sad!

Here’s a reminder of some the low points of Yost’s time in office, which is why he is the worst state attorney general in the country:

• During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, tried to block Ohioans from accessing time-sensitive, life-saving essential abortion care.
• Pushed courts to block abortion access in Ohio on the very day that Roe was overturned by SCOTUS in 2022. It was at Yost’s request that the 6-week abortion ban was enacted until legal action blocked it 83 days later.
• Went on FOX News to deny the actual existence of an underage rape victim in a high profile case that drew attention to the damage caused by the 6-week abortion ban. 
• In October, 2023, wrote a 13-page memo outlining his personal opinions why voters should reject Issue 1 to protect abortion access in Ohio. This document was inappropriately published by his state office on the first day of early voting, an action which multiple journalists told us was an unfair interference in an election.
• Pushed appeals in multiple legal challenges against Ohio’s now-unconstitutional abortion bans and restrictions, instead of respecting the rights of Ohio voters to protect abortion access. Indeed, most of these cases are titled defendant “v. Yost.”