WARREN — Attorney General Dave Yost said he has no plans to quit the gubernatorial race and hopes President Donald Trump, who’s already endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy, his Republican primary opponent, will also back him.

During a Tuesday interview, Yost said the “main difference” between Ramaswamy and him is “rhetoric and a record of results. I’ve been doing this for the state for the last 14, 15 years and people don’t have to guess whether I’m going to follow through on my promises. They can look at what I’ve actually done.”

Yost said that includes eight years as state auditor in which he identified $260 million of efficiency savings.

“I was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Yost said in reference to the Department of Government Efficiency that Ramaswamy briefly ran with Elon Musk before the former left to pursue the Ohio governor’s position on the 2026 ballot.

Yost said much of his recommendations didn’t get implemented because then-Gov. John Kasich “didn’t like them. But I understand how to do it in a methodical and thoughtful way.”

Yost said his work at the auditor’s office led to 170 criminal convictions for public corruption and he’s provided more than $100 million law enforcement training during his six-plus years as attorney general.

Yost spent eight years as auditor before he was elected in 2018 as attorney general. He was reelected in 2022.

Ohio law prohibits state executive branch officeholders from holding a position for more than two consecutive four-year terms.

Yost and Ramaswamy have been planning to run for governor for several months before their official announcements.

Yost announced Jan. 23 that he would run for governor in next year’s election. Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur and close Trump ally, announced Feb. 24 he would run for governor. The same day as his gubernatorial announcement, Trump endorsed Ramaswamy.

Yost said: “Obviously the president is extremely popular in Ohio and you factor in that my opponent spent $2.5 million a year ahead of the election to tell everyone, ‘Hey, the president likes me,’ speaks to that. But the president has endorsed two or three candidates in a race before and there’s a long time before the primary. I would welcome his endorsement. If he doesn’t, I’m going to run on my record and let voters decide.”

Yost said he “can’t imagine” anything that would get him out of the governor’s race and has no interest in running for any other elected office.

“I’ve already had the two coolest jobs in Ohio besides governor,” Yost said. “What else am I going to do?”

Yost said his “original intent was to retire after my attorney general term. But I was encouraged by people to offer an alternative. This isn’t a lifelong dream. Wanting to be governor is a fairly recent thing – a couple of years. I want to make a difference. I want to have meaningful work so the idea that I would go do something else just to have a job – I don’t really need a job. I could earn a lot more money in the private sector. So my goal is to leave Ohio brighter, better and growing for my kids and grandkids.”

Early polling shows Ramaswamy with a lead in the Republican primary. In addition to Trump, Ramaswamy has received the endorsements of U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Treasurer Robert Sprague and numerous state legislators including those who represent the Mahoning Valley: state Sen. Sandra O’Brien, R-Lenox; state Rep. Nick Santucci, R-Niles; and state Rep. Tex Fischer, R-Boardman.

Yost was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s Trumbull County Republican Party Lincoln Day dinner and earlier in the day had a news conference to talk about a $750,000 grant his office awarded to the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office.