Republican incumbent David Yost is trying for his second term as Auditor of State. He’s a former print journalist for the now-defunct Columbus Citizen Journal who became Delaware County Auditor in 1999, and then Delaware County Prosecutor. He briefly ran for Attorney General in 2010 before moving into the auditor’s race.
Democrat John Patrick Carney announced he was challenging Yost a little over a year ago. He is in his third term as a state representative from the 22nd House district in Columbus. He’s also been an attorney specializing in health care issues.
This week Yost and Carney met for a face-to-face debate at the City Club of Cleveland, along with Libertarian candidate Bob Bridges. This may be the only head-to-head debate we’ll see in any of the five executive office races. Republicans Mike DeWine, Jon Husted and Josh Mandel have turned down debate invitations at the City Club. And there will be no debate in the governor’s race featuring Republican incumbent John Kasich and Democratic Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald.
Next week – we were hoping to feature the major party candidates for Treasurer, Josh Mandel and Connie Pillich. Pillich has accepted the invitation, but Mandel declined through a spokesperson.