Ohio set for marquee races in the fall. US Senate contest seen as
crucial for control of the chamber
[May 06, 2026]
By JULIE CARR SMYTH
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tuesday’s primary in Ohio set up two marquee
matchups in November — a U.S. Senate race that will help determine
control of the chamber and a governor’s race in which Democrats see
their best chance of victory in two decades.
Another stunningly expensive Senate race — the state's third in four
years — is expected as Republicans try to hold their majority during a
difficult midterm cycle. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown easily defeated a
challenger in the Democratic primary and will now attempt to unseat
Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
Democrats are counting on Brown’s previous popularity with voters to
flip the seat, even as the Senate Leadership Fund — a top GOP super PAC
— has pledged $79 million to defend Husted.
Brown, who served three Senate terms before losing a bitter reelection
bid in 2024, pledged at his victory party to fight for working-class
Ohioans.
“No one in the Senate is standing up to these corporations who raise
your prices and who game the system,” Brown said as attendees booed. He
continued, “Ohioans don’t have anyone fighting for you, until November.”
Husted, who did not hold an election night party, was unopposed in his
primary, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate
term that Vice President JD Vance won in 2022.
In a statement earlier in the day, Husted said Brown has no room to talk
about failures in Washington.
“Over the next six months, Ohioans will hear a lot from Sherrod Brown
about his so-called solutions,” Husted said. “The truth is, after 32
years in Washington, he created the very problems he now blames others
for. His record is indefensible.”
In the governor's race, biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy clinched the
Republican nomination over internet personality Casey Putsch to face Dr.
Amy Acton, the COVID-era health director, this fall. Acton was unopposed
in the Democratic primary.
Both candidates for governor are widely known across the state
A newcomer to state politics, Ramaswamy aggressively positioned himself
for the job early with the help of an endorsement from President Donald
Trump — who praised him on social media Tuesday as “Young, Strong, and
Smart!”
“We have an historic opportunity to lead Ohio to be the top state in the
country — to raise a young family, to give our kids a world-class
education and to be the state where we will revive this quaint idea that
we call the American Dream,” Ramaswamy told supporters in Columbus.
Acton, speaking at her victory party, said she is running because people
are struggling, working harder than ever and still not getting ahead.
“I refuse to look the other way,” she said.
Trump’s endorsement continues to carry weight in Ohio, which favored him
three times for president, but Ramaswamy could face headwinds amid the
president’s lagging popularity over the war in Iran and the rising cost
of living.
Acton's high public profile and robust early fundraising have made
Democrats hopeful of winning back the governor’s office for the first
time since 2006.
Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the
state's political scene early last year as a mad shuffle left an opening
at the top of Republicans' statewide ticket. Then-Sen. Vance was
ascending to the vice presidency and Husted — then the front-running
candidate for governor — was being appointed to replace him in
Washington.
With his national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to
Trump, he quickly cleared a prospective field that included the sitting
state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor.
National economy, COVID-19 pandemic set early tone for governor's
race
But Democrats saw opportunity with the open governors seat, even as the
state, a former bellwether, has tipped convincingly toward Republicans
during the Trump era.
Acton became a household name across Ohio in the early days of the
COVID-19 pandemic as she stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine
during daily coronavirus broadcasts. Her comforting presence during the
crisis made her a beloved figure with many Ohioans.
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Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek greets supporters
during a watch party at the Spruce St. Sporting sports bar after
winning the party's nomination for governor Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in
Columbus. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Her campaign also has highlighted her rough childhood, overcoming
poverty, homelessness and sexual abuse while growing up in
Youngstown.
“I just think she’s real,” said Aaron Weiner, a Cincinnati real
estate agent who voted for Acton. “She has had struggles, so I think
she can empathize with people who are struggling to get ahead.”
But the administration's aggressive pandemic actions — including
shuttering businesses, closing schools and canceling an election —
also earned Acton plenty of enemies and made her the occasional
target of people upset about the policies, with some armed
protesters showing up outside her home.
Ramaswamy's campaign sought to capitalize on lingering anger over
the restrictions with attacks on Acton's role early in the crisis,
but he also has connections to the government's response. Ramaswamy
was advising the lieutenant governor at the time — Husted — on
virus-related economic issues and founded a company that profited
off its role developing vaccines.
Cincinnati voter Paul Mussman, who backed Ramaswamy, said he
considers it an asset that he is a relative newcomer to politics.
Ramaswamy would look at issues “in a fresh way and not based on what
their party affiliation is,” Mussman said.
Republicans see some Democratic-held House seats as vulnerable
In the wake of a new round of redistricting that slightly favored
Republicans, the state also had numerous partisan congressional
primaries.
The most heated GOP primary was in the Toledo area’s 9th District
for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the
longest-serving woman in Congress.
Former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom Kaptur defeated by less than a
percentage point in 2024, bested an Air National Guard veteran, a
healthcare industry worker, a sitting state representative and the
former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
Madison Sheahan.
In Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman’s Cincinnati-area 1st
Congressional District, which his party considers a “must-hold,” the
three-way Republican primary went to Eric Conroy, a CIA and Air
Force veteran who was endorsed by Trump, Vance and Moreno.
Landsman beat back a primary challenge of his own Tuesday from Damon
Lynch IV, the grandson of a prominent civil rights leader. Lynch had
criticized Landsman for his initial vote against a war powers
resolution on the war in Iran, which Landsman later followed up with
a favorable vote.
In the Akron area’s 13th District, Republican Carey Coleman defeated
four others for the opportunity to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia
Sykes.
Democrats think new House maps give them a shot to regain seats
As a Trump-backed national effort to remake congressional maps in
Republicans' favor was underway, Ohio Democrats took a
could-have-been-worse approach and passed the map they were given
unanimously.
Now party candidates crowded congressional primaries across the
state for the chance to take on sitting Republican representatives,
who hold 10 of Ohio's 15 seats.
The newly redrawn 7th District in the Cleveland area attracted five
Democrats hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a
former senior Trump adviser, in November. Brian Poindexter, a union
ironworker and city councilman endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders, emerged as the winner in a race that also included former
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for
governor in 2014.
In northeast Ohio’s 14th District, PR professional and former Euclid
City Council member Maria Jukic won the Democratic primary over
former Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill and others and
will face Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce.
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