Keith Faber

Keith Faber (born January 19, 1966) currently serves as Ohio's Auditor of State. He was formerly a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 84th district, which includes Mercer County as well as portions of Auglaize, Darke and Shelby counties. Faber previously served as 94th President of the Ohio Senate and as the state senator for the 12th District. He also previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the same district from 2001 to 2007.

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 2019
Preceded byJim Buchy
Succeeded bySusan Manchester
In office
January 3, 2001 – January 2, 2007
Preceded byJim Buchy
Succeeded byJim Zehringer
9th 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
Spouse(s)Andrea Faber
Children2
EducationOakland University (BA)
Ohio State University, Columbus (JD)

On January 31, 2017, Faber announced he would run for State Auditor of Ohio, seeking to succeed incumbent Dave Yost, who was term-limited.[1]

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

Faber was born in Troy, Michigan in 1966, the youngest of 4 children who were raised by a single mother. Faber credits his work ethic to his mother who he fondly remembers working overtime to make sure her children had everything they needed. Faber got his first paycheck job at the age of 12 as a janitor at a local business, sweeping floors and cleaning toilets. Although the youngest, Faber was the first in his family to go to college. With the help of scholarships and working (a number of jobs including managing a McDonald's, bartending, working at an outdoor music venue, and as a probation officer), he was able to pay his way through college and then law school.

Following Law School, Faber moved to Celina where he met his wife, Andrea Faber. They have two children, Adam and Brooke. Andrea Faber is a college professor of mathematics.

Faber is the principal partner with Faber and Associates in Celina, a law firm specializing in civil litigation and mediation, helping courts and parties resolve matters without trial. He earned his Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University in 1991.

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.[2] He defeated Democrat Bill Sell in the general election by about 14,000 votes.[3] 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.[4] As President pro tempore, Faber was also vice chairman of the Senate Rules and Reference Committee.[5] Faber won reelection to a second term in 2012, defeating Libertarian Paul Hinds with 79.07% of the vote.[6] 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.

As Senate President, Faber was rated by a survey of Statehouse lobbyists, the Ohio General Assembly's "Most Ambitious," "Most Humorless," "Least Compassionate," "Most Arrogant," and "Most Aggressive Campaign Fundraiser" by fellow Statehouse insiders in Columbus Monthly's legislator rankings.[7] Faber has argued that those ratings come from lobbyists who were upset that he did not play their games.

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.[8]

Legislative Awards

5x recipient of the Watchdog of the Treasury Award

6x recipient of the Ohio Farm Bureau's “Friend of Agriculture” Award

Moms for Ohio's Public Service Award

Clean Fuel Ohio's “Legislator of the Year” Award

“Commitment to Ohio’s Public Universities and Students” Award

Council of Smaller Enterprises Advocate of the Year

National Federation of Independent Business's “Guardian of Small Business Award”

Ohio Alliance of Boys & Girls’ 2016 Blue Door Award

2004 Outstanding Legislator of the Year by the United Conservatives of Ohio

2x recipient of the Ronald Reagan Excellence in Government Award [9]

Race for Auditor of State

In February 2017, Faber announced his intention to run for Ohio Auditor of State. After pushing Ohio Speaker of the House, Cliff Rosenberger,[10] out of the primary, Faber was unopposed in the primary.

Faber's campaign for Auditor focused upon making stating government more efficient, effective, and transparent. He highlighted the work done under his leadership in the Ohio General Assembly to cut taxes by $5 billion, reduce burdensome regulations, and attract over 500,000 new private sector jobs to the state. Faber also sought to emphasize his work reducing the cost of higher education in Ohio, while he was President of the Senate, Faber pushed an initiative that reduced the cost of a college degree by 11.7%.[11]

Faber sought to emphasize the importance of the office being a "partisan election, but not a partisan office." He focused his campaign on going after state government without regard to party or special interest, pledging only to serve the people, not the elite.

The four previous Auditors of State endorsed Faber in the race.

In August, the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants announced their unanimous endorsement of Faber.

Faber faced off against Zack Space in the November election. Space, a former Congressman and lawyer, has argued that he is the only candidate who can clean up corruption in Columbus that Faber—as Senate President—is allegedly responsible for.

In October, three weeks before the election, an investigation by the Associated Press revealed that Faber had incurred late payments for failure to pay property taxes on time. Faber's campaign responded, saying "Keith Faber and his business partners paid their property taxes on time and we have the records to prove it."[12] The AP story also noted that Faber had run digital ads against Space for his failure to pay property taxes "even as Faber's own tax penalties went unreported in the press.".[12] Faber attributed the majority of the late payments to rural postal service issues.

On November 6, 2018 he was elected to be the next Ohio State Auditor.[13]

On November 13, Faber announced that former Auditors of State Mary Taylor and Betty Montgomery would be leading his transition team.

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
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%

Personal life

Faber is married to Andrea Faber, and together they have two children. They reside in Celina, Ohio.

References
  1. Ludlow, Randy. "Keith Faber confirms run for state auditor". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  2. Blackwell, Kenneth 2000 primary election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2000-03-07)
  3. Blackwell, Kenneth 2000 general election results Archived 2011-06-27 at the Wayback Machine (2000-11-07)
  4. "News Archives - Urbana Daily Citizen". Urbana Daily Citizen.
  5. "Area's state lawmakers take leadership spots".
  6. Husted, Jon 2012 general election results Archived 2012-12-04 at Archive.today (2012-11-06)
  7. Ghose, Dave. "Rating the Legislators".
  8. "Faber passes gavel; sworn in as state rep". Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  9. "Representative Keith Faber (R) - Biography - The Ohio House of Representatives". www.ohiohouse.gov.
  10. "House speaker Rosenberger ponders run for Ohio auditor". 24 October 2017.
  11. "Faber campaigns on vigilance".
  12. "Tax penalty questions swirl in race for Ohio auditor". 12 October 2018.
  13. Press, Associated. "GOP state Rep. Keith Faber elected as Ohio auditor". WTTE. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
Political offices
Preceded by
Tom Niehaus		 President of the Ohio Senate
2013–2016		 Succeeded by
Larry Obhof
Preceded by
Dave Yost		 Auditor of Ohio
2019–present		 Incumbent
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