Yost shared his opinions on presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders while at the event.
Ohio Auditor Dave Yost addressed local Republicans Thursday at the annual Lincoln Day Dinner, touching on everything from national politics to corruption to the lessons of Ulysses.
About 70 people attended the dinner, held at the American Legion Hall on West Union Street.
Yost, the event's guest speaker, urged voters to select leaders with humility and external values and warned against politicians with large egos, calling pride the “root of all political sin.”
On national politics, Yost said he never thought he would see an “avowed socialist” running for president years after the Berlin Wall fell, referencing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).
Yost also said Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “can’t tell the truth even if she wants to.”
But Yost didn’t shy away from his own party.
“Let's not even get started with the shenanigans on our side of the aisle,” he said.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, who also appeared at the event, spoke about the values of the Republican Party, which he identified as the dignity of work, personal responsibility, fiscal responsibility, family, faith and freedom.
Husted addressed the lawsuit filed against him Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and Demos, a public policy organization, claiming the state illegally removes voters from its voter registration rolls.
In a news release, the ACLU claimed the state was in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
Husted said his office complies with federal and state law, which requires it to remove someone from the rolls if it has been six years since their last vote. Husted said the office usually sends notices before any such measures are taken.
“I want to make sure that it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat,” Husted said in his speech to the Athens Republicans.
Jay Edwards, the Republican candidate for state representative of Ohio’s 94th District, spoke to the audience about his campaign and said he wants to be a champion for economic development in Southeast Ohio.
Yost urged local Republicans in attendance to help get Edwards elected and said he’d like to see Athens send a fiscal conservative to the Ohio Statehouse.
Yost and Husted also praised the efficacy of American democracy. Husted pointed to Ohioans' rejection of Issue 3, the proposed constitutional amendment on marijuana, in last year's election as evidence of that.
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“Believe in democracy, because the people usually get it right,” Husted said.
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