Ohio's Biggest Ballot in Years: Governor, a Senate Special Election and the Whole Statewide Slate

Ohio voters aren't just electing a governor on Tuesday; they're restaffing the state. The 2026 ballot carries an open governor's race, a U.S. Senate special election, every statewide executive office, and two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court — the deepest statewide ballot in years.

The governor's race pits Democrat Amy Acton — the physician who became a household name as Ohio's health director during the COVID-19 pandemic — against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, the Cincinnati-area entrepreneur and former presidential candidate. The winner succeeds Gov. Mike DeWine, who is term-limited, and takes over a state budget, a JobsOhio-era economic strategy, and the next round of fights over taxes, schools and abortion policy.

The Senate race is a special election for the seat JD Vance left to become vice president. Republican Jon Husted — DeWine's former lieutenant governor, appointed to the seat — defends it against Democrat Sherrod Brown, who held Ohio's other Senate seat for 18 years before losing it in 2024 and now seeks a return. The winner serves the remainder of the term and faces voters again in 2028.

Down the ticket: attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and auditor races will decide who runs Ohio's elections, legal affairs and money for the next four years, and two Supreme Court seats will shape a court whose rulings on redistricting, abortion and business law have defined recent Ohio politics.

The statewide races sit atop Issue 3 — the constitutional amendment on photo ID for voting — and the full pyramid of congressional, legislative, judicial and county contests.

Ohio reports results by county through the night after polls close at 7:30 p.m. In a state that has voted Republican in recent presidential cycles but keeps electing the occasional Democrat statewide, Tuesday's map will be read as a verdict on both parties' Ohio futures.