The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Republican Dave Yost will seek election as Ohio Attorney General in 2010.

If successful in winning the Republican Party's nomination, Yost who is Delaware County's prosecutor, would likely face incumbent Attorney General Richard Cordray, a Democrat.

Yost is the first Republican to drop his name into the ring. State Sen. Tim Grendell, R-Chester Township, sought the Republican nomination in 2006, but was unsuccessful. Grendell was then re-elected to his seat in the Ohio Senate last November.

Another Republican name likely to be brought up and who is mentioned by the Dispatch as a possible candidate is former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine of Cedarville.

I believe this race will have a Republican primary with at least two candidates because it doesn't appear, at least for now, that there is one name that would create enough party unity for someone to run unopposed.

-- John Arthur Hutchison

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said the language for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution to allow casino gambling will have to go back to the drawing board.

"After reviewing your submission, I have concluded that I am unable at this point to certify your summary as a fair and truthful statement of the measure to be referred." Cordray wrote in a letter to the committee that was proposing the measure.

The state attorney general said he was rejecting the submission for two reasons.

He said the language should expand on parcel numbers and include fuller descriptions of where the casinos would be placed.

Cordray also said the language makes it appear as though winnings would not be taxable.

It is not unusual for the Attorney General’s Office to reject summary language as initially proposed, Cordray said.

Certification of summary language is just one step in the process, he said.

The Ohio Ballot Board must determine whether the petition represents a single or multiple Constitutional Amendments.

If approved by the Ballot Board, the petitioners must then collect signatures from more than 402,000 registered voters or equal to 10 percent of the total vote cast for the office of governor at the last gubernatorial election.

-- John Arthur Hutchison