Ohio voters head to the polls Tuesday to select candidates for races that could determine control of both chambers of Congress for the final two years of President Donald Trump's presidency, with a Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate and competitive Senate and House contests drawing national attention.
In the race to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, tech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy faces auto racing engineer and internet personality Casey Putsch for the Republican nomination. Ramaswamy has endorsements from Trump and the Ohio Republican Party and entered the final stretch of the primary campaign with a $31 million war chest, including $25 million from his personal funds. Putsch raised about $123,000 and had about $8,700 in his campaign account as of the most recent filing in April.
A third candidate, Heather Hill, was disqualified from the race after her running mate withdrew from the ticket in an acrimonious split. Their names will still appear on the ballot, but votes cast for them will not be counted.
The Governor's Race
The winner will face Dr. Amy Acton, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Acton was director of the Ohio Department of Health during the early days of the state's COVID-19 pandemic response until her resignation in June 2020.
Trump's endorsement should be a boost to Ramaswamy. Trump carried every county in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Senate Battle for Congressional Control
In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is running to reclaim his old job in Washington. A Brown victory in November is again pivotal to Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate, as was the case in 2024, when his loss to Republican Bernie Moreno helped secure a GOP majority. Brown faces Ron Kincaid for the Democratic nomination. Brown had an enormous fundraising advantage over Kincaid as of mid-April.
The Republican nominee will be Sen. Jon Husted, who faces no primary challengers. Husted was lieutenant governor when he was appointed to fill the Senate seat JD Vance vacated to become vice president. The seat will be up again for a full term in 2028.
Competitive House Races
Among the notable U.S. House races, a crowded Republican field is competing to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 9th Congressional District. The 22-term incumbent narrowly won reelection in 2024 over Republican Derek Merrin in one of the final races to be called that cycle. Merrin is again running for the GOP nomination against a field that includes former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, state Rep. Josh Williams and two others.
Lucas County, home to Toledo, is by far the most influential in the 9th Congressional District primaries. It contributed more than one-third of the total vote in the 2024 Republican U.S. House primary. Merrin and Williams are from Lucas County, while Sheahan's home base is Ottawa County.
Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, home to Columbus and Cleveland, respectively, are the state's most populous and play big roles in both Democratic and Republican statewide primaries, as do Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit counties.
Election Mechanics
Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET. Any registered voter in Ohio may participate in any party's primary. Ohio does not register voters by party, but voters who participate in a party's primary will be considered affiliated with that party. As of Friday, there were about 7.9 million registered voters in Ohio.
The 2022 Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate and governor each had about 1.1 million total votes cast, which was roughly 14% of registered voters at the time. The Democratic U.S. Senate primary had about 518,000 total votes cast, and the Democratic gubernatorial primary had about 509,000 votes cast.
As of Friday, more than 153,000 Democratic primary ballots and about 122,000 Republican primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday's election. All 88 counties in Ohio tend to release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in the first vote update of the night, in most cases before any in-person Election Day results are released.
Recounts in Ohio are automatic if the margin is less than 0.25% of the total vote in statewide races or 0.5% in congressional district races. As of Tuesday, there will be 182 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
Why This Matters:
Tuesday's primaries will shape the battlefield for races that could flip control of Congress back to Democrats or solidify Republican majorities through the remainder of Trump's term. The Senate contest pits an appointed incumbent against a former senator seeking a comeback after his 2024 loss helped deliver the chamber to Republicans. In the governor's race, Ramaswamy's overwhelming financial advantage and Trump endorsement position him as the likely nominee to defend a seat Republicans have held for years. The 9th Congressional District primary will determine which Republican challenges a 22-term incumbent in a district that remains competitive despite recent Republican gains statewide. These outcomes will influence legislative priorities on taxation, regulation, and federal spending for the next two years, with Ohio's results potentially determining which party controls the agenda in Washington.