Party officials said Monday that David Yost will be their candidate for the statewide office, which opened up when Auditor Mary Taylor announced she would be the running mate for Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich.

Yost only recently moved into the auditor's race, dropping an earlier bid for attorney general.

State Committee member Teri Morgan said Yost has the ground game in place to run an effective statewide race and has strong conservative credentials.