Keith Faber

Keith Faber is an American politician from Ohio. A Republican, he has been State Auditor of Ohio since 2019. He was formerly a member of the Ohio House of Representatives (2001-2007), elected from the 84th district, and then a member of the Ohio State Senate (2007-2016), elected from the 12th District. He was president of the Ohio Senate from 2013 to 2016.

Keith Faber
33rd Auditor of Ohio
Assumed office
January 12, 2019
GovernorMike DeWine
Preceded byDave Yost
Member of the Ohio House of Representatives
from the 84th district
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 7, 2019
Preceded byJim Buchy
Succeeded bySusan Manchester
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 2, 2007
Preceded byJim Buchy
Succeeded byJim Zehringer
94th President of the Ohio Senate
In office
January 7, 2013 – December 31, 2016
Preceded byTom Niehaus
Succeeded byLarry Obhof
Member of the Ohio Senate
from the 12th district
In office
January 2, 2007 – December 31, 2016
Preceded byJim Jordan
Succeeded byMatt Huffman
Personal details
Born (1966-01-19) January 19, 1966
Troy, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAndrea Faber
Children2
EducationOakland University (BA)
Ohio State University (JD)

Life and career
Opening of Congressman Jim Jordan's Sidney office in 2007. From left-to-right: John Garmhausen, State Senator Keith Faber, State Representative John Adams, Mayor Frank J. Mariano, City of Sidney, City Councilman Steve Hamby, Doug Borchers, Congressman Jim Jordan

With incumbent Jim Buchy unable to run for another term in the House in 2000, Faber sought to replace him. He faced a primary race with fellow Republican Terry Haworth, and won by about 1,300 votes.[1] He defeated Democrat Bill Sell in the general election by about 14,000 votes.[2] He won reelection in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

When Jim Jordan vacated his state Senate seat after winning a seat in Congress, Faber was one of seven who sought to replace him, along with Derrick Seaver, Gene Krebs, Robert J. Luckey III, Toni Slusser, Vincent Foulk and Kreg Allison. Faber won the support of Senate Republicans, and took the seat in the Senate in February 2007. Soon after the appointment, Senate President Bill Harris appointed Faber to the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee.

For the 128th General Assembly, Faber served as Senate majority floor leader, and in the 129th General Assembly, he served as president pro tempore, the second highest post in the Senate.[3] As President pro tempore, Faber was also vice chairman of the Senate Rules and Reference Committee.[4] Faber won reelection to a second term in 2012, defeating Libertarian Paul Hinds with 79.07% of the vote.[5] Faber served as the 94th President of the Ohio Senate throughout his last term in the upper chamber, before being ineligible to run again in 2016 due to term limits.

In a 2016 survey by Columbus Monthly of Statehouse insiders ("lawmakers, legislative aides, lobbyists, journalists and Kasich administration officials"), Faber was rated "Most Ambitious," "Most Humorless," "Least Compassionate," "Most Arrogant," and "Most Aggressive Campaign Fundraiser."[6]

Ohio House of Representatives

In 2016, state Representative Jim Buchy, who had returned to the House after Faber had succeeded him in 2000, again decided to retire, in what perhaps strategically opened up the seat for Faber, who himself was term-limited from his seat in the Senate, where he had served as the body's president since 2013. He easily won election, receiving over 83% of the vote against Democrat Ed Huff in the 2016 general election.[7]

Auditor of State

Campaign

In February 2017, Faber announced his intention to run for Ohio Auditor of State. Ohio Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger considered running for the Republican nomination for auditor,[8] but chose not to do so.[9] He ran unopposed for the Republican nomination in the May 2018 primary.[10] During his campaign, Faber emphasized performance audits to promote government efficiency.[11]

Faber faced former U.S. Representative Zack Space, the Democratic nominee, in the 2018 campaign for state auditor.[12] In October 2018, the Associated Press published an investigation revealed that Faber and his businesses incurred penalties for tax delinquencies between 2008 and 2015 across multiple properties and years and in two counties.[12] Before Faber's tax payment history came to light, Faber had run digital ads attacking Space for his two tax penalties in 2005 and 2008.[12] Both candidates cited administrative errors as the reason for the late payments.[12] Space's campaign accused Faber of hypocrisy; Faber’s bookkeeper took responsibility for the delays.

On November 6, 2018, Faber was elected State Auditor.[13] Faber received 49.66% of the vote, defeating Space, who received 46.28%.[10]

Tenure

Faber was first inaugurated as auditor on January 12, 2019.[14] He was inaugurated for a second term on January 9, 2023 joined by his family and sworn in by newly elected Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court Sharon Kennedy.

Electoral history
Ohio Senate: Results 2008 to 2012
Year SD Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct Independent Votes Pct Libertarian Votes Pct
2008 12 Thomas Matthew 46,273 28.98% Keith Faber 106,637 66.79% Jack Kaffenberger 6,750 4.23%
2012 12 None Keith Faber 111,694 78.84% Paul Hinds 29,974 21.16%
Ohio House: Results 2000 to 2006
Year HD Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct
2000 77 Bill Sell 18,232 36.2% Keith Faber 32,132 63.8%
2002 77 Ben Amstutz 9,483 24.16% Keith Faber 28,353 76.84%
2004 77 Betsy Marshall 17,131 30.2% Keith Faber 39,600 60.8%
2006 77 Betsy Marshall 15,522 34.82% Keith Faber 29,060 65.18%
2016 84 Ed Huff 9,607 16.62% Keith Faber 48,191 83.38%
Auditor of State: Results 2018-2022
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct Libertarian Votes Pct
2018 Zack Space 2,006,204 46.28% Keith Faber 2,152,769 49.66% Robert C. Coogan 175,790 4.06%
2022 Tyler Sappington 1,683,216 41.25% Keith Faber 2,397,207 58.75%

Personal life

Faber's brithday is January 19. He is married to Andrea Faber, and together they have two children. They reside in Celina, Ohio.

References
  1. Blackwell, Kenneth 2000 primary election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2000-03-07)
  2. Blackwell, Kenneth 2000 general election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2000-11-07)
  3. "News Archives - Urbana Daily Citizen". Urbana Daily Citizen.
  4. "Area's state lawmakers take leadership spots".
  5. Husted, Jon 2012 general election results Archived 2012-12-04 at archive.today (2012-11-06)
  6. Ghose, Dave (September 23, 2016). "Rating the Legislators".
  7. "Faber passes gavel; sworn in as state rep". 4 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  8. "House speaker Rosenberger ponders run for Ohio auditor". 24 October 2017.
  9. Mary Kilpatrick, House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger says he won' run for state auditor, Cleveland.com (October 30, 2017).
  10. 2018 Official Election Results, Ohio Secretary of State.
  11. Roger LaPointe (September 16, 2018). "Faber campaigns on vigilance". Sentinel-Tribune.
  12. Julie Carr Smyth (October 12, 2018). "Tax penalty questions swirl in race for Ohio auditor". Associated Press.
  13. "GOP state Rep. Keith Faber elected as Ohio auditor". WTTE. Associated Press. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  14. Friday kicks off inaugurals for new Ohio officeholders, Associated Press (January 11, 2019).
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