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 County results Brown: 50–60% 60–70% Herbert: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1970 Ohio Attorney General election was held on November 3, 1970, to elect theOhio Attorney General. Incumbent Republican Ohio Attorney GeneralPaul W. Brown, who was appointed followingWilliam B. Saxbe's resignation after winning election to the Senate in 1968, chose not to run for re-election, instead unsuccessfully running in the Republican primary forGovernor of Ohio.
The Democratic nominee, lawyerWilliam J. Brown, defeated Republican opponent,Ohio State TreasurerJohn D. Herbert, by ten percentage points.
The Republican primary was held on May 5, 1970. Herbert won the Republican nomination unopposed.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John D. Herbert | 733,229 | 100% | |
| Total votes | 733,229 | 100% | ||
The Democratic primary was held on May 5, 1970. Brown won the nomination easily, defeating his closest opponent, Ohio House Minority Leader John McDonald, by 12 percentage points, albeit still with only a plurality of the popular vote.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Brown | 346,514 | 45.82% | |
| Democratic | John McDonald | 253,876 | 33.57% | |
| Democratic | David J. Boyd | 97,719 | 12.92% | |
| Democratic | C. Raymond Marvin | 58,147 | 7.69% | |
| Total votes | 756,256 | 100% | ||
Herbert was hurt by the Crofters scandal, which alleged that he and several other Republican candidates had taken illicit campaign contributions from a Columbus company named Crofters Inc., which arranged for the illegal loans of state funds. Herbert faced some calls from within his own party to drop out of the race but adamantly refused, informing a friend that he would stay in the race "and drag the whole bunch of them down with me."[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Brown | 1,613,926 | 55.43% | +10.66% | |
| Republican | John D. Herbert | 1,297,421 | 44.56% | −10.67% | |
| Write-in | Al Budka | 94 | 0.00% | N/A | |
| Total votes | 2,911,441 | 100.0% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
