COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor is projected to secure a historic victory in the Franklin County prosecutor race, defeating Republican opponent John Rutan in Tuesday’s general election.
With the victory, Favor will become Franklin County’s first-ever Black and first-ever female prosecutor.
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She will take over for current Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack who announced last year he wasn’t running for re-election.
The prosecuting attorney position is a four-year term. Favor will be sworn in in January.
Favor, who is also a former Columbus assistant city attorney, defeated Anthony Pierson and Natalia Harris to secure the Democratic nomination during the March primary.
She started serving on city council in 2019 to fill a vacancy and she was re-elected in 2023.
Earlier this year, Favor laid out her stance on several issues, including wrongful death convictions and the obligations of being the prosecuting attorney.
"One way in which I believe we can restore that trust is not only through evaluating cases that have been wrongful conviction cases, but I'm also interested in exploring cases where this office has elected not to pursue charges as well," Favor said.
According to the prosecutor's office website, the office handles more than 8,000 felony cases every year and is the legal advisor to all county officials, townships and agencies.