11/04/2026

MCAO Update: Ohio Part of the Blue Wave

All results are as of 8 a.m. this morning.

Amy Acton wins Governor’s race; Democrats see success in three of four statewide races

Dr. Amy Acton has won Ohio’s governor race – the first Democrat to win the governorship in 20 years. Acton and her running mate, David Pepper, finished with 52.31 percent of vote to Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Rob McColley’s vote of 44.38 percent. Libertarians Don Kissick and James Mills also received 3.30 percent of the vote.

In an echo of 2006, when Republican Mary Taylor snagged the Auditor’s office in a year where Democrats were successful in all of the remaining contests, Democrats have also won in three of the four remaining statewide contests:

Democrat John Kulewicz, an Upper Arlington city councilmember, succeed over his Republican opponent, current Auditor Keith Faber, in the Attorney General race (50.31 percent to 49.69 percent)
Republican Frank LaRose, the current Secretary of State, takes the Auditor’s race over Democrat Annette Blackwell, the current mayor of Maple Heights in Cuyahoga County (50.79 percent to 49.21 percent)
Democrat State Representative Allison Russo will serve as Secretary of State, defeating Republican Robert Sprague, the current State Treasurer, as well as Libertarian Tom Pruss, (50.25 percent to 46.80 percent and 2.95 percent, respectively)
Democrat Seth Walsh, a member of the Cincinnati City Council, defeated his Republican opponent, former State Representative Jay Edwards, to win the Treasurer’s race (50.55 percent to 49.45 percent)

The results are significantly closer than those seen in these four races in recent years – only Russo has a lead of more than 100,000 votes. But all of the results fall above of the state’s automatic recount threshold, 0.25 percent for statewide contests.

This election saw record early voter turnout for a midterm election – more than 1.7 million people voted early – up 17% from the early vote total in 2022. Democrats cast roughly 468,000 ballots to Republicans’ approximately 432,000, but unaffiliated voters well outpaced both with nearly 807,000 ballots.

Voter turnout overall was also up this year over 2022. Nearly 4.56 million people voted this year, compared to only 4.099 million people in 2022.

Last night also saw Democrats succeeding in Governors’ races around the county. Of the 36 gubernatorial races this year, Democrats were able to flip seats in Georgia, Iowa, Texas and Nevada, in addition to Ohio. Those wins bring the national numbers to 28 Democratic and 20 Republican governors. The races in Kansas and Alaska remain too close to call, though Democrats are leading both states.

Brown returning to U.S. Senate after defeating Husted; Democrats take majority in Senate

Democrat Sherrod Brown will be Ohio’s newest U.S. Senator after defeating current Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted. This race was close throughout the campaign season and was long ranked as a toss-up but Brown was able to garner 50.01 percent to Husted’s 45.15 percent. Third party candidates Greg Levy and William Redpath received 2.05 percent and 2.79 percent, respectively. Brown’s win only gives him two years in the Senate – this election was only to fill the unexpired portion of former Senator, current Vice President, JD Vance’s term. This seat will be up again in 2028.

Democrats needed a net gain of four seats to retake the Senate but managed to flip 7 seats thus far. These wins bring the Senate 54 Democratic seats to 44 Republican seats, up from the current split 53 Republican to 47 Democratic seats. Democratic candidates in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas were successful. Alaska, where the Republican candidate is leading, and Mississippi, where the Democratic candidate is leading and which would also be a flip, are still too close to call.

*Alaska’s results may not be known for two weeks. Alaska uses a ranked choice voting system and initial returns will show only voters’ first choices.

Democrats sweep U.S. House and have majority in Ohio delegation

Ohio’s Congressional delegation has some new faces after 3 incumbents were upset as part of the Democratic wave that has flipped control of the U.S. House.

Democrats were able to gain three seats in the delegation this election, as incumbent Republican Representatives Max Miller, Mike Turner, and Mike Carey were defeated by their Democratic challengers. Representative Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in Congress, was able to hold onto her much-contested seat after trailing for much of the night while waiting for the ballots in Lucas County to be counted.  For the first time in many years, there will be more Democrats in the Ohio delegation than Republicans, with 7 Republicans and 8 Democrats serving in the U.S. House next year, up from the current 10 Republicans and 5 Democrats.

Overall, Ohio was symptomatic of the larger blue wave. Democrats only needed a net gain of three seats to reach the 218 seats needed for control, but have reached a total of 228 seats to the Republicans’ 139 seats. Sixty-eight races remain too close to call, but estimates are that the Democrats will end this cycle with 258 seats to the Republicans’ 177 seats.

The new Ohio House delegation:

1st District:      Greg Landsman (D)
2nd District:     Dave Taylor (R)
3rd District:      Joyce Beatty (D)
4th District:      Jim Jordan (R)
5th District:      Bob Latta (R)
6th District:      Michael Rulli (R)
7th District:      Brian Poindexter (D) - flipped
8th District:      Warren Davidson (R)
9th District:      Marcy Kaptur (D)
10th District:    Kristina Knickerbocker (D) - flipped
11th District:    Shontel Brown (D)
12th District:    Troy Balderson (R)
13th District:    Emilia Sykes (D)
14th District:    David Joyce (R)
15th District:    Don Leonard (D) - flipped
 

Republican majorities hold, but Democrats picked up seats in both the Ohio House and Senate

Democrats were able to win 9 seats in the Ohio House, including defeating Republican incumbents Mike Dovilla, Andrea White, Jim Thomas, and Brian Lorenz. The Democrats were also able flip open seats in Summit (2), Montgomery, Lucas and Lorain counties. There are three races where Republicans are leading, notably Hamilton County’s Representative Cindy Abrams (R) is only leading by 19 votes, but the vote count is within the automatic recount range. Additionally, Democrat Tom Herner has a narrow 134 vote lead over Republican Representative Tom Young, also well below the automatic recount threshold. The leading vote getters in recounts have historically grown their leads. If these results hold, Republicans will have 56 to 43 majority, down from 65 to 34 this session. This also means that Republicans have lost their supermajority, making any attempt at a veto override, which requires a 2/3’s vote in each chamber, next session much more difficult.

As in the House, Democrats were able to win seats in the Senate. Democrat Stacie Baker was able to defeat Republican Senator Michele Reynolds and Democrat Michael Roberto was successful in his race to fill the seat being vacated by term-limited Republican Senator Kristina Roegner.  The Republican majority in the new session will be 22, with 11 Democrat members.  Democrats have not had 10 or more members in the Senate since the 131st General Assembly (2015-2017).

Democrats Prevail but Republicans Retain Majority on Ohio Supreme Court

Incumbent Justice Jennifer Brunner (D) has managed to defeat Colleen O’Donnell (D), a former Franklin County Court of Common Pleas judge, to retain her seat on the Supreme Court. Justice Brunner took 51.37 percent of the vote to O’Donnell’s 48.63 percent.

Judge Marilyn Zayas (D) of Hamilton County’s First District Court of Appeals was able to upset Justice Dan Hawkins (R) in last night’s contest as well. Zayas won by a vote of 51.01 percent to Justice Hawkins (R) vote of 48.99 percent. 

Brunner and Zayas’s wins cut the Republican majority by one, bringing the court to a 5-2 Republican majority next year.

Ballot Issue 3 – Voter Photo ID

State Issue 3 easily won last night, garnering support from 65.33 percent of the voters. This measure amends the state constitution to require voters to present photo identification (ID) to vote in person, as well as requiring absentee voters to provide a photo ID, or a signature plus one other unique identifier authorized by law. It would also allow for the legislature to establish an alternative identity-verification process for voters with a sincere religious objection to being photographed.

Supporters of Issue 3 argued that the amendment was necessary to protect Ohio’s elections and safeguard Ohio voters from imposters seeking to steal their vote. Opponents had argued that the amendment was unnecessary, state law already required photo ID to vote, and places an undue burden on voters, by blocking currently allowed forms of ID and possible future forms of ID.

With its passage, the amendment should become part of the constitution upon certification of the vote.

Maryellen K. Corbett
​​​​Attorney at Law
mcorbett@calfee.com
Office: 614.621.7754
Fax: 614.621.0010
 
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP
1200 Huntington Center
​41 South High Street
Columbus, OH 43215‑3465

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