Gov. Mike DeWine said today he will appoint Andy Wilson, director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, as the state’s next attorney general, to replace Dave Yost, who is resigning, effective June 7.

DeWine, a Republican, said that Wilson will serve the final seven months of Yost’s unexpired term.

DeWine said: “When I looked at going forward for the next seven months, I wanted someone who has high energy, someone who has real experience in the criminal justice area so Andy Wilson is clearly, in my mind, the right person although we had other very good people to pick from.”

DeWine said he thought of appointing state Auditor Keith Faber, the Republican nominee for attorney general. But because that would have likely required appointing three other Republicans who won last week’s Republican primary for statewide office, DeWine said “that just seemed not the right thing to do.”

DeWine said he supports Faber in the general election, but the move to select him “just didn’t seem right to me” because of the other appointments of statewide officeholders he’d have to make.

Faber said: “Andy Wilson is a solid pick by the governor as interim attorney general. I’m looking forward to spending the next six months continuing my conversation with Ohioans about the kind of leadership I’ll bring to the office if I’m elected in November.”

Wilson said: “During the seven months that I’m in that office, I will wake up every morning fully dedicated to serving the people of Ohio. The people who deserve an attorney general who fights crime, who seeks justice and, again, who wakes up every morning with the focus on keeping them safe.”

Yost, a Republican, announced his resignation Thursday, effective June 7, to become vice president of strategic research and innovation for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian conservative legal advocacy group.