WASHINGTON, DC – Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who is running for governor against tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in the primary, spoke to Fox News Digital about his campaign and what he sees as the key difference between the two campaigns. 

«We do agree on an awful lot of things,» Yost, who was in Washington to celebrate with the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes college football team at the White House, told Fox News Digital about the gubernatorial race. 

«The difference is that I’m running on a record of results, not just rhetoric.»

Part of that record, Yost explained, is his time as the state auditor in Ohio, where he helped uncover $260 million of efficiency savings.

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«I was DOGE before DOGE was cool,» Yost said, adding later that «virtually nobody» he talks to in Ohio is opposed to the fraud and waste spending that is taking place with DOGE amid vocal Democratic pushback.

Yost also touted his record on crime and public corruption as the state’s attorney general since 2019 and suggested his experience differentiates him from Ramaswamy. 

«We’ve been fighting for the Constitution, for the rights of Ohioans, fighting public corruption,» Yost said. «More than 170 people have gone to jail because of my work and the work of my team. So, we’ve been in the trenches. We don’t need on-the-job training, and I think that that record of results is going to make a difference for Ohioans.»

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks at the Conservative Political Action Coalition annual meeting  (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Recent polling shows that Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by President Trump, Elon Musk, Rep. Jim Jordan and others, holds a commanding lead in the race, but Yost remains optimistic. 

«Obviously, there’s a long way to go, but I love Ohio,» Yost said. «I’ve been getting back out and talking with folks. The reception has been amazing. People are eager for a new America First kind of leadership in Ohio. And I am really excited about where we’re heading.»

One specific issue that Yost believes he has been clearer on where he stands is the death penalty. 

«I don’t know where my opponent is on that,» Yost said. «He hasn’t spoken about it. I imagine that that’s why we have campaigns, and we’ll find out. But look, I support the death penalty.»

Yost explained that «safeguards» must be used, and he emphasized that there are «no do-overs» but said that «we need» the death penalty.

«What do you do with a guy who’s serving life without parole and then he kills a prison guard or a cook inside?» Yost said. «A family loses a loved one because of this murder. Was that a freebie? What, are we gonna give them another life sentence? So, at least in that circumstance, we need to have the death penalty, and then we’re just arguing about when we use it.»

«But the death penalty is not working in Ohio right now. We haven’t abolished it. We still have the promise of it out there as the ultimate justice. We haven’t executed anyone since 2018. The average time that somebody on death row has been waiting for their date with justice is 22 years. That’s not due process, it’s overdue process, and we need to either man up and say, okay, we’re not gonna do this anymore, or we need to go about following the law and bringing the 116 people on death row to their date with justice.»

A person close to the Ramaswamy campaign told Fox News Digital that the team is «looking forward to helping Dave Yost be successful in his next venture, whatever he chooses to do.»

Another local issue in Ohio that Yost told Fox News Digital he is concerned about is the recent push by professional sports teams to secure taxpayer funds for stadiums. 

Yost expressed concerns about taxpayers being on the hook for sums of several hundred million dollars.

«I’m not so sure that the taxpayers ought to be throwing tax money at these big public stadium projects,» Yost said. «I mean, those bonds, those taxes are going to be paid for by people that in a lot of ways can’t afford to go to a pro game. That strikes me as unfair. But beyond that, we have no limiting principle here.»

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Vivek Ramaswamy speaks before Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage at the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024, in New York City.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

«We’ve got all these different sports teams. We already have three of them now, since the Browns said we want $600 million. The Bengals come forward, and they want $350 million, and FC Cincinnati is saying, ‘Well, what about us?’ And pretty soon, we’re spending billions of dollars on sports stadiums that are used in one town a few days a year, when we could be spending that money on any number of other things, whether we’re talking about roads, bridges, economic development, whether we’re talking schools, or we’re talking about tax cuts. None of this makes sense to me. We at least need a plan and a limit. Right now, it looks like the candy store is just open.»

Fox News Digital asked Yost what he hears most often when he travels the state talking to voters, and he said that the economy and «kitchen table» issues are most prevalent, but pointed out that Trump’s tariff policies, which have been much maligned by the Democrats, are more popular than the media lets on. 

«Right now, everybody’s watching as the world economy is being reordered, and unlike what I’m hearing from the disaster predicted by the elite press on the coasts, it’s a much different situation on the ground in Ohio,» Yost said. «I talk to a lot of businesses that think that this is going to be good for them, that the fair and reciprocal kinds of trade are going to bring a new resurgence to Ohio and to their industries, even though they see some pain and that’s what everybody’s talking about right now.»

Ultimately, Yost told Fox News Digital that he believes that his «record of results» shows that he is the candidate with the «experience and the vision and the know-how» to «bring Ohio to the bright future that’s out there for us.»