Attorney General Dave Yost has dropped out of the campaign for Ohio governor.
Yost said his steep climb to the nomination had become a vertical cliff, and now is not the time for a family squabble.
For now, tech billionaire and Upper Arlington resident Vivek Ramaswamy’s path to the Republican nomination for governor looks clear.
Yost has trailed Ramaswamy badly in the few public polls released this spring. Earlier this month, state Republican leaders overwhelmingly endorsed Ramaswamy over Yost.
That leaves only long-shot candidate Heather Hill and the possibility of Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel running for governor standing in Ramaswamy’s way. This week, the former Ohio State football coach and Youngstown State president Tressel said he’s still considering a run.
To break down this news, we turn to a panel of statehouse observers: former Franklin County Prosecutor Mike Miller and Common Cause Ohio’s Sam Gresham, as well as statehouse reporters Jake Zuckerman of Signal Statewide and Laura Bischoff of the USA Today Ohio Bureau.
Snollygoster of the week
We’ve heard stories about DOGE, and the Trump administration has targeted National Institutes of Health studies. A Senate committee minority report said the Trump administration cut $2.7 billion in NIH research funding through March.
So, calls for increased NIH funding are noteworthy. This week, Republican Congressman Warren Davidson of southwestern Ohio co-sponsored a bill calling for the NIH to study Trump Derangement Syndrome. The Trump Derangement Syndrome Act of 2025 would research the negative and often violent reaction to any supportive statement or event related to President Trump.
The TDS, yes, it already has an acronym, the TDS Research Act would investigate the syndrome’s origins and contributing factors, including the media’s role in amplifying its spread.
What if the research said President Trump is responsible for this syndrome? Sometimes when you ask for a study, you may not like the results.
If you have a suggestion for our "Snollygoster of the Week" award, a question or a comment, send them to snollygoster@wosu.org.
