Ohio State Auditor: Faber defeats Sappington

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Republican incumbent state Auditor Keith Faber defeated his Democratic opponent — Athens County’s own Taylor Sappington — with 59.62% in the 2022 general election, according to unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website Tuesday night. 

Ohio voters first elected Faber, 56, in 2018. Faber for Ohio Campaign Manager James Coyne said Tuesday night that the campaign would issue a statement once the race is officially called. 

Sappington, who has held office as Nelsonville City Auditor since 2019, said Tuesday night that he is proud of his campaign, regardless of if he wins.

According to unofficial results from the state Tuesday night, Sappington came in statewide at 40.38%; however, according to unofficial results from the Athens County Board of Elections, Sappington won Athens County over Faber, 58% to 42%.

“From the very get-go when folks asked me to jump in, including folks like Tim Ryan, Sen. Brown and others, I knew this was a tough race,” Sappington said. “It was an incumbent who has been around since I was playing with Barney and Power Rangers.

“But what I’ll say is that, we hit almost every county in the state … And frankly, with these last few major counties — which happen to be the counties that vote more Democratic — I believe that percentages will close and be tighter.”

Sappington, 30, said he is proud to have represented southeast Ohio in a statewide race, and “really proud to be the first from Athens County, first from Nelsonville, and well, the youngest to run for auditor, and the first openly gay–first openly LGBTQ statewide candidate, so I just feel like a lot has been done,” he said. “And I don’t have I don’t have one second thought about it.”

Sappington said he is not sure if he will run for state auditor again, but that he looks forward to continuing his work as Nelsonville City Auditor over the next year. 

“We deserve fair competitive maps; of course, the auditor is involved as a mapmaker for the state and redistricting,” Sappington said. “We deserve effective, efficient government. We deserve someone, who I have said all year, who will ‘Balance the books and catch the crooks.’ However, this race came to me; like I said, I was asked, and I have a ton of work that I’m really excited about.”