Upper Arlington City Council member John Kulewicz claimed victory in the Ohio attorney general race on Wednesday, Nov. 4, saying his Republican opponent had conceded.
Kulewicz said in a statement that morning that he had spoken with Ohio Auditor of State Keith Faber, who offered his concession, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.
Unofficial results
With 100% of precincts reporting unofficial results on the Ohio Secretary of State's website, Kulewicz held a narrow lead. Some 102,148 provisional ballots remained outstanding. The results have not been officially certified.
Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
John J. Kulewicz | Democratic | 2,285,117 | 50.31% |
Keith Faber | Republican | 2,256,710 | 49.69% |
Total |
| 4,541,827 | 100% |
Reporting status: 100% of precincts reporting (unofficial)
Provisional ballots outstanding: 102,148
Source: Ohio Secretary of State website, as reported by the Ohio Capital Journal, Nov. 4, 2026
Kulewicz is the first Democrat to win the office since Richard Cordray in 2008, according to Signal Ohio.
Republican Dave Yost, the previous attorney general, resigned in June to join a conservative nonprofit law firm, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
What it means for Upper Arlington
Kulewicz's departure will leave a vacancy on the seven-member Upper Arlington City Council. He serves alongside Council President Ukeme Awakessien Jeter, Vice President Heidi Munc, Todd Walter, Nic Fortkamp, Ben Tracy and Laura Oldham, according to the city's council page.
Under the city charter, a vacancy is filled by a majority vote of the remaining council members. The length of that appointment depends on timing: if the appointment occurs after June 30 in the final two years of a term, the appointee serves the rest of the unexpired term. Otherwise, the charter states, the appointment lasts "until the second Monday in January following the next general election."
A 2016 Ohio Supreme Court ruling interpreted that charter language to mean the seat must go before voters at that election.
The race
Kulewicz, a retired attorney at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, won the Democratic primary on May 5 with about 63% of the vote, defeating former state Rep. Elliot Forhan. He campaigned on the idea that voters wanted change in the attorney general's office. He told the Ohio Capital Journal before the election that he had heard from people who believe "36 years of almost uninterrupted one-party rule has gotten us nowhere."
Faber previously served in both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate, including a stint as Senate president.
Both candidates said they would pursue investigations of elder abuse, human trafficking and cybercrime. Both also said they would retry the case tied to Ohio House Bill 6's (HB 6) energy bailouts after the previous trial ended in a hung jury.
