On July 31, Ohio State Attorney General Dave Yost named Indian American Mathura J. Sridharan as his pick for the Midwestern state’s 12th Solicitor General. The Solicitor General is the state’s top attorney for appeals in state and federal courts. Sridharan’s Linkedin account identifies her as Ohio Solicitor General as her term has already begun. But caustic, racist comments surfaced very quickly on the Web.
In her acceptance statement, Sridharan is quoted saying in media reports, “It is an honor and a privilege to stand up for the rights and freedoms of my fellow Ohioans. I am profoundly grateful for the trust Attorney General Yost has placed in me.”
While appointing her, AG Yost posted on X @DaveYostOH, “Mathura is brilliant… she won her argument at SCOTUS last year. Both the SGs she worked under (Flowers & Gaiser) recommended her. I told her when I originally hired her I needed her to argue with me. She does … All the time!”
Yost went on to add, “Excited to promote her. She will serve Ohio well.”
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When racist reactions to her appointment surfaced, AG Yost went further, posting on X, “A few commenters have asserted that Mathura is not American. She is a United States citizen, married to a US citizen, and the child of naturalized US citizens. If her name or her complexion bother you, the problem is not with her or her appointment.”
Some of the obnoxious and racist X posts against Sridharan were uploaded on the website goldsea.com in an article by Romen Basu Borsellino –
Nevertheless, Sridharan has received support all round. The publication Juris Review carried an article by a contributor on August 4, 2025, entitled, “Ohio Welcomes Mathura Sridharan as 12th Solicitor General Amid Culture Clash” where the author noted, “Sridharan’s qualifications reflect a rare blend of academic and professional rigor.” It went on to details them – Bachelor’s degrees from MIT in electrical engineering, computer science, and economics, Master’s in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, a J.D. from NYU School of Law. Add to that clerkships with Judge Steven J. Menashi in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and with Judge Deborah A. Batts in the Southern District of New York. Among her arguments before the Supreme Court, it pointed to the most notable one in Ohio v. EPA in 2024.
The unnamed Juris Review contributor went on to say, “Her appointment marks a historic milestone. Sridharan is one of the first Indian-origin women in the United States to be named Solicitor General of a state, a breakthrough that reflects progress in increasing diversity at the highest levels of the legal profession.”
But as soon as the appointment became public, Sridharan was the subject of racial attacks, particularly the bindi she wears on her forehead.
In her previous position as a Deputy Solicitor General, Sridharan also directed Ohio’s Tenth Amendment Center for which she initiated and directed suits to defend Ohioans against unlawful federal policies nd to preserve separation of powers between the federal and state governments, notes The Federalist Society on its website fedsoc.org.