Person
Steve Dettelbach
- Work
- Career trial attorney in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Maryland before becoming U.S. Attorney in Ohio.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Work
- Partner at the law firm BakerHostetler, 2006-2009 and 2016-2022, between his service as U.S. Attorney and as ATF Director.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Public service
- Member of the Ohio Ethics Commission, 2008-2009, appointed by Governor Ted Strickland.
Sources: ethics.ohio.gov · en.wikipedia.org
- Education
- B.A., Dartmouth College, 1988, summa cum laude; J.D., Harvard Law School, magna cum laude.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Not yet researchedRaised, as filed
- Not yet researchedCash on hand
- 42%Latest poll · Suffolk University, October 9, 2018
- 2Positions in their words · 2 issues
- 1Claims checked
- 2Offices held · Former Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 2022–2025
10 of 11 sections researched
Not yet researched: Endorsements.
What has been checked
- Profile 8 entries
- On the ballot 0 entries
- Where they stand 2 entries
- What they have said, checked 1 entry
- Record in office 2 entries
- Money 3 entries
- Financial interests 1 entry
- Polling and approval 1 entry
- Elections 1 entry
- Endorsements Not yet researched
- Sources 10 entries
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Section | State |
|---|---|
| profile | researched |
| ballot | researched |
| positions | researched |
| claims | researched |
| record | researched |
| money | researched |
| interests | researched |
| polling | researched |
| elections | researched |
| endorsements | not researched |
| sources | researched |
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Chamber | District | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Statewide | All of Ohio | Attorney General of Ohio |
On the ballot
None found in the records checked
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Where they stand
Opioid crisis
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Pledged to combat the opioid crisis through law enforcement, treatment and prevention, and to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable; his campaign said he refused pharmaceutical-industry campaign donations.
Source: ballotpedia.org
Public corruption
Paraphrase of a linked source, not their words:
Announced an anti-corruption plan calling for stiffer penalties for bribery and tougher sanctions for public officials' conflicts of interest.
Source: statenews.org
What they have said, checked
-
ECOT stole millions of dollars from taxpayers
WSYX ABC6 (Columbus) rated this inflated, October 17, 2018 · the check
Our check against the record: The record does not settle it.
Record in office
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Person | Date | Kind | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dettelbach (D) | 2009 | office | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio |
| Dettelbach (D) | 2022-07 | office | Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |
| Dettelbach (D) | 2013 | action | 2013 (action): As U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, his office won the largest prosecution by number of defendants under the Matthew Shepard |
| Dettelbach (D) | 2022-02-01 | action | 2022-02-01 (action): His nomination as ATF Director was supported by a group of more than 140 former federal prosecutors, including more than 30 Republican appoi |
-
action February 1, 2022
His nomination as ATF Director was supported by a group of more than 140 former federal prosecutors, including more than 30 Republican appointees, citing his record as U.S. Attorney. The nomination came four years after the 2018 race.
Source: presidency.ucsb.edu
-
action 2013
As U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, his office won the largest prosecution by number of defendants under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act: 16 people were convicted and sentenced to prison for religiously motivated assaults on Amish community members in the Bergholz beard-cutting attacks, with ringleader Samuel Mullet sentenced to over 12 years.
Source: justice.gov
Money
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Status |
|---|
| None found in the records checked |
Totals as filed
| Race | Filer | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney General of Ohio | OhioSOS | October 17, 2018 |
Source: publicintegrity.org
Top donors, as filed
-
United Food and Commercial Workers locals · $16,700 · PAC · Out of state · Attorney General of Ohio
Labor union
Source: publicintegrity.org
-
Democratic Attorneys General Association · $12,700 · PAC · Out of state · Attorney General of Ohio
National political committee
Source: publicintegrity.org
Outside spending
Financial interests
Disclosed holdings
None found in the records checked.
Disclosed income
-
As a partner at BakerHostetler both before and after the 2018 race, represented several individuals later convicted in corruption-adjacent fraud cases, including a CEO sentenced for bribery, wire fraud and embezzlement tied to municipal garbage-hauling contracts. This is drawn from his 2022 federal financial disclosure, filed for his ATF Director confirmation, four years after the 2018 race.
February 1, 2022
Source: dailycallernewsfoundation.org
Reported conflicts
None found in the records checked.
Net worth, as estimated
None found in the records checked.
Polling and approval
The numbers behind this figure, as a table
| Field date | Candidate | Share | Poll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 2018 | Steve Dettelbach | 42 | Suffolk University, likely voters, margin of error 4.4 points |
-
Suffolk University · October 9, 2018 · Attorney General of Ohio
Dettelbach 42 · Yost 36
likely voters, margin of error 4.4 points
Source: suffolk.edu
Elections
| Race | Party | Result | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney General of Ohio (2018) | Democratic | Lost | 2,086,715 | 47.8% |
Offices held
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio · 2009 to 2016 · appointed
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives · 2022-07 to 2025-01 · appointed
Source: en.wikipedia.org
Endorsements
Not yet researched
Sources
Data from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0: Steve Dettelbach · 2018 Ohio Attorney General election
Every URL on this page, once each.
- Steven Dettelbach · Ballotpedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Steve Dettelbach · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- 2018 Ohio Attorney General election · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Democratic AG Candidate Rolls Out Anti-Corruption Plan · Ohio Statehouse News Bureau · 2018-03-29 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Ohio Attorney General election, 2018 · Ballotpedia · accessed 2026-09-19
- Sixteen People Sentenced To Prison For Federal Hate Crimes · U.S. Department of Justice, USAO Northern District of Ohio · accessed 2026-09-19
- ICYMI: Dettelbach Endorsed to Lead ATF by Bipartisan Group of Over 140 Former Federal Prosecutors · The American Presidency Project · accessed 2026-09-19
- Why state attorneys general races are the next frontier for out-of-state influence · Center for Public Integrity · 2018-11-03 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Biden's ATF Nominee Ran For AG In 2018 On Fighting 'Corruption' · Daily Caller News Foundation · 2022-06-08 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Poll: Democrats Lead in Ohio's U.S. Senate and Statewide Races · Suffolk University · accessed 2026-09-19
- https://ethics.ohio.gov/about/memberhistory.html
- Fact-checking ads in the race for Ohio attorney general · WSYX ABC6 (Columbus) · 2018-10-17 · accessed 2026-09-19
- Community school enrollment reviews (Ohio Department of Education and Workforce) · Ohio Department of Education and Workforce · accessed 2026-10-15
- Audit search · Ohio Auditor of State · accessed 2026-10-15
Cite and data
Cite this page as:
Cracked Buckeye, "Steve Dettelbach", https://crackedbuckeye.com/people/steve-dettelbach/, built 2026-11-03, accessed [date].
How to cite · Report a correction · Built 2026-11-03