While the state is still months away from its Feb. 4 deadline for candidates to get involved in the 2026 primaries, the landscape of these contests have been taking shape for months now.
Governor
The race to replace Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is at once one of Ohio’s most developed races and one of the contests most up in the air.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, has already nailed down endorsements from the Ohio GOP and President Donald Trump, two endorsements that have essentially made him the presumptive Republican nominee coming out of the May 5 primary.
Ramaswamy also boasts boatloads of money. Recent campaign filings show he and his leading Democratic opponent, former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, have broken early fundraising records as gubernatorial candidates of their respective parties.
But Ramaswamy’s haul, at $9.7 million, is nearly seven times that of Acton’s $1.4 million. And, those figures don’t take into consideration a well-endowed federal PAC set up in support of Ramaswamy.
Acton, despite fundraising success and staking an early claim as Democrats’ best chance in this race, has often been overshadowed by rumors of bigger fish — like former Congressman Tim Ryan, who recently expressed interest in the race — jumping into the pond.
Despite the financial disadvantage and the real disadvantage every Democrat in a statewide race is bound to face in an ever-redder Ohio, internal polling from Acton’s campaign projects confidence: a race that’s statistically tied, showing high job approval from her time leading Ohio’s health department through COVID-19.
Also in the mix is Republican long-shot candidate Heather Hill, an entrepreneur from Appalachian Ohio.
U.S. Senate
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio’s best-known Democrat who lost his seat in the 2024 election to now-Sen. Bernie Moreno, recently announced a 2026 comeback attempt that, if successful, would displace Sen. Jon Husted from Capitol Hill.
The contest’s prize will be to serve out the remainder of a term originally won by now-Vice President JD Vance, who was elected senator through 2028.
Despite Brown’s recent loss, he over-performed in the 2024 election, losing by a margin of 3.6 percentage points in a state President Donald Trump won by more than 11 points. But, Brown also ran that race as an incumbent, whereas now he’ll be a challenger for the first time since 2006.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
The incumbency now belongs to Husted, who was appointed to the position earlier this year by DeWine (who was kicked out of the U.S. Senate by Brown in 2006).
Ohio’s Senate race has the potential to bring in copious amounts of outside spending. The 2026 elections may determine political control of the U.S. Senate, which is currently held by 53 Republicans with a minority caucus of 45 Democrats and two independents.
Brown, whose most recent electoral battle was one of the most expensive races in American history, will be seen as one of Democrats’ best chances to pick up a seat in a midterm election that often sees the party opposite of a new administration make gains.
Husted didn’t express much concern. “They spent $300 million on him just ten months ago, and he lost. So, we’ll see,” he told reporters earlier this month.
Other Ohio offices
Democrats at the state level will also be hoping to get some benefit from the midterm effect, as a Democrat hasn’t won an election for Ohio executive office since 2006.
Only a few races currently pit Democratic candidates versus Republican candidates.
Secretary of State
Former Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, a Columbus-area Democrat, announced her candidacy for secretary of state last week.
“For me, the secretary of state’s office should not be partisan. It should be purely focused on making sure that citizens have access to the ballot, that it is transparent, that it is accessible,” Russo told this outlet last week.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
She’ll face Robert Sprague, a Republican who has served as the state’s treasurer for the past eight years and is building his secretary of state campaign around promises of using only paper ballots, blocking non-citizens from voting, and launching a “bold new civics education push” to teach young Ohioans about their rights, responsibilities, and “the hard truth that freedom survives only if you fight for it,” according to his campaign website.
The office oversees all of Ohio’s elections, which are principally carried out by the 88 county boards of elections. The office also oversees business registrations in the state.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Ohio Attorney General
Running to become Ohio’s Attorney General, who represents the state in all its legal battles and oversees law enforcement and consumer protection, is Republican Keith Faber, who has served as the state’s auditor for the past eight years.
He’s so far faced by former Democratic state Rep. Elliot Forhan, a Cleveland-area lawyer.
Treasurer
Ohio’s treasurer, which moves the money the state spends, has a crowded list of Republican candidates and no Demcoratic candidates, yet.
Republicans competing for the nomination include former lawmaker Niraj Antani of Miamisburg, current state Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, former state Rep. Jay Edwards of Nelsonville, and Lake County Treasurer Michael Zuren, as reported by the Ohio Capital Journal.
Auditor
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
So far, only Frank LaRose, a Republican who has spent the past eight years running a high profile secretary of state’s office, has made a bid to become Ohio’s auditor, responsible for auditing every public office throughout the state.
Supreme Court
Two positions are up for grabs on the Ohio Supreme Court, a body that is ultimately tasked with interpreting the state’s constitution. The bench is currently made up of one Democrat and six Republicans.
That lone Democrat, Justice Jennifer Brunner, will have to defend her seat. Her spot was targeted by her colleague, Justice Pat Fischer, who announced that he’d switch races to oust her, but ultimately walked back on that plan, as reported by the Statehouse News Bureau.
Republicans still angling to take on Brunner include Ohio appeals court Judge Ron Lewis; Ohio appeals court Judge Andrew King; and former Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Colleen O’Donnell, according to Signal Ohio.
Republican Justice Dan Hawkins, who won a temporary term in 2024, will also have to defend his seat.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
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