Why — specifically — should you care about each one of those? Here’s a rundown of the potential impact each of your votes might have.
The president
Think of all the ways the federal government intersects with your life: Taxes, healthcare, social safety net programs, military spending (which fuels the local economy). The list goes on.
The next resident of the White House will influence all of that.
This year’s race for president features former President Donald Trump, a Republican running with Middletown native U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat running with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Ballots also include Libertarian Chase Oliver, and independent candidates, Peter Sonski, Richard Duncan and Jill Stein. Votes in Ohio will not be counted for Stein because the Green Party missed the deadline for naming her running mate.
The next president and his or her economic and tax policy will have a definite impact on Ohioans.
Trump proposes broad tariffs on all imported goods, reducing the corporate tax rate and eliminating federal taxes for tipped employees and for people whose income is high enough for their Social Security benefits to be taxed under current law.
Harris proposes a federal price-gouging ban, expanding the child tax credit, adding subsides for homeownership and small businesses, ending federal taxes on tips and raising the corporate tax rate.
Trump has said he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act but not specified what he would replace it with. Harris wants to extend expanded ACA subsidies set to expire next year.
Readers have told us abortion and immigration are other major issues in the presidential race.
Harris supports women’s right to chose abortion and make reproductive health care decisions. Trump touts his appointment of three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. Trump has made a variety of statements over the years about a federal abortion ban, but now says he would veto such a ban and that states should decide on rules for abortion.
On immigration Trump calls for securing the U.S. border, beginning a mass deportation of “illegal” immigrants, ending “birthright” citizenship and has repeatedly made false claims about Springfield’s Haitian population.
Harris said she would work to secure the border, boost the fight against human trafficking and fentanyl, and reform the immigration system, including supporting an earned pathway to citizenship.
She supported the bipartisan border security bill that failed to advance in Congress this year after Trump came out against it.
A president’s influence extends to how federal agencies operate. They appoint the leaders of all cabinet departments, subject to Senate confirmation, setting the tone for the entire executive branch.
The departments of Defense and State are crucial, especially given current international conflicts in the Middle East and with Russia-Ukraine. Treasury sets fiscal policy that is key to the economy, and Health and Human Services was center stage as the CDC managed COVID.
The president nominates new Supreme Court justices when existing justices retire, again subject to Senate confirmation. The oldest justices currently on the court are the two generally considered the most Republican-leaning — Clarence Thomas (76) and Samuel Alito (74).
New presidents often approve a sizable list of executive orders quickly upon taking office. In Donald Trump’s previous term, his Muslim travel ban and waiver of certain Affordable Care Act provisions drew attention, while Joe Biden’s COVID vaccine orders and student loan debt cancellation efforts were prominent.
U.S. Senate race
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is seeking reelection against Republican Bernie Moreno, a Westlake businessman. Libertarian Donald Kissick also is on the ballot.
Abortion and immigration are two major issues in the race, as both could be the subject of upcoming federal legislation.
Brown supports the reproductive rights constitutional amendment Ohio voters approved last year and says he supports a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. Moreno opposed Ohio’s reproductive rights constitutional amendment and said in January that he supports a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks. His campaign now says he believes abortion rules should be left to the states.
Moreno wants to improve border security and supports mass deportation of immigrants who entered the country illegally. He’s said the Haitian immigrants in Springfield should be deported starting in 2025, and he supports ending the Temporary Protected Status program that allows them to legally live and work in the U.S. Moreno opposed the bipartisan border security bill that failed to advance in Congress this year after Trump came out against it.
Brown supported the bipartisan border security bill and is focused on battling drug trafficking, co-introducing bills that expanded sanctions against fentanyl traffickers and provided equipment to detect fentanyl at the border.
Beyond specific stances of Brown and Moreno themselves, the race is one of several that will decide which party controls the evenly divided U.S. Senate, which has broad implications for presidential appointments and national policy.
Congress
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Who’s on your ballot depends on where you live. Central and southern Clark County will decide whether to send 20-year Republican Congressional veteran Mike Turner back to D.C. to represent District 10 as he’s challenged by Democrat Amy Cox and independent Michael Harbaugh.
The rest of Clark County will vote on the District 15 race between incumbent Republican Mike Carey and Democrat Adam Miller.
Just like in the Senate, immigration law is likely to be a key issue for the winners of these Congressional seats, whether it’s a new attempt to pass a broad border security bill, or stopgap efforts like Springfield’s work to draw more federal resources in light of thousands of new Haitian residents.
In an Air Force town, these legislators’ role in passing government spending packages and avoiding shutdowns is always important, as will be funding decisions for overseas allies facing armed conflict in Ukraine and Israel.
And these races will help decide control of the U.S. House, which has major implications for government tax and spending priorities — the federal budget process starts in the House — economic policy and much more.
Ohio Supreme Court
Political control of the Ohio Supreme Court, which has the final authority over the Ohio Constitution and its amendments, is at stake this November with three of the court’s seven seats up for grabs. A sweep for Democrats would give the party a four-to-three majority on the bench, while a sweep for Republicans would give the party near total control with a six-to-one majority.
The stakes are particularly high this year given that the court is expected to soon begin making calls based on its interpretation of 2023′s abortion-rights amendment.
The amendment, approved by 57% of Ohio voters, guarantees the unfettered right to abortion until fetal viability. But the court still needs to decide its full ramifications, including the line in which a pregnancy complication impacts the health of the mother; the lengths the government can go to try to limit abortions; or the full range of decisions that can be considered reproductive decisions.
Other issues have seen partisan divide on the high court as well, including proposed changes to Ohio voting laws that Republicans say makes the system more secure but Democrats say makes voting harder.
Ohio Statehouse
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Clark County will decide on a new state senator, as incumbent Bob Hackett cannot run for reelection in District 10 due to term limits. Republican Kyle Koehler is running against Democrat Dan McGregor for that seat.
Some parts of south and east Clark County will also get a new state representative, as Bill Dean is term-limited in the 71st District. Democrat Krista Magaw and Republican Levi Dean (Bill Dean’s son) are running for that seat.
Elsewhere, Republican Bernie Willis is running for reelection against Democrat Derek Alvarado in District 74, which covers most of Clark County. In Champaign County, incumbent Republican Tim Barhorst (District 85) faces Democrat Victoria Maddox.
How do statehouse races affect your life? Whichever legislators are elected will pass a state budget this coming year, deciding where your tax dollars go. That includes the ongoing debate over public school funding and private school vouchers, funding for major road and transportation projects, where to set tax rates, and more.
There’s also pending legislation about what should be taught on college campuses, raising debates over free speech vs. censorship and the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion rules. The state House and Senate could also weigh in on recent property tax increases, and issues such as gun laws and criminal justice.
Issue 1
Credit: Mark Freistedt
Credit: Mark Freistedt
Ohio’s proposed constitutional amendment known as Issue 1 has drawn national attention and significant out-of-state money because, if passed, it could make ripples that help shape the political landscape of Congress as well as the Ohio legislature.
If approved by a majority of voters this November, Issue 1 would essentially scrap the state’s current redistricting process entrusted to politicians and replace it with a citizen commission and a tweaked set of rules.
Under the current system, the Ohio Supreme Court has repeatedly found that anti-gerrymandering measures in current law haven’t been adhered to.
Issue 1 would put the map drawing process under a citizen redistricting commission consisting of five Democratic members, five Republican members and five members not affiliated with either party. None of the members can have a professional affiliation with politics.
Backers of Issue 1 say their motive is fairness and removing politics from the process. Critics say voters won’t have a direct say in who gets approved or removed from the board.
If Issue 1 were to pass, the immediate effect in Ohio would be that Democrats could pick up a number of favorable districts in the Ohio House, the Ohio Senate, and perhaps most consequentially the U.S. House of Representatives, where political control is currently decided by just a few seats.
County level offices
The vast majority of Clark County government races in Tuesday’s election are uncontested — one Republican candidate on the ballot, with no Democratic opponent.
The one exception is an important one though, as Republican Charlie Patterson, a former health commissioner, is running against Democrat Kevin O’Neill, a former Springfield city commissioner, for one of the three Clark County Commission seats.
County commissioners are the voting board running a $233 million county government budget, holding some oversight of law enforcement, tax collection, roadwork, a wide array of social services and more. County commission is trying to solve ongoing issues with the jail, and like city government, they’ve been in the news for how they’re reacting to the surge of thousands of Haitian immigrants in recent years.
In Champaign County, most county races are also uncontested. Chad Burroughs faces write-in candidate Tim Durham in the race for sheriff, while Steven Tornik and Kaleb Deam are battling to replace outgoing coroner Joshua Richards.
Local tax levies
Voting for candidates puts people in office who may or may not act the way you imagined when they were on the campaign trail. Voting for a tax levy guarantees that you will pay certain taxes, and that the money will go to the agency in question to pay for specific services (schools, police, roadwork, etc.).
The biggest tax levy in Clark County is the Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center’s 1.4-mill bond and permanent improvement levy, which would pay the local share of building a nearly $90 million new school facility, with the state contributing about $38.7 million.
Voters have rejected two previous requests for this project. Superintendent Michelle Patrick said it’s an investment in the community’s future workforce, as the new building would allow the CTC to accept more students each year and offer new career-tech programs.
Elsewhere, Greenon schools voters will decide on a 1.99-mill tax levy that would fund the construction of a new transportation garage and multipurpose room. And Graham schools voters will decide on a 1% earned income tax increase to avoid continuing staff cuts.
Voters in German Twp. (excluding Tremont City) will decide on a 2-mill property tax for fire services and equipment, while Bethel Twp. voters will decide on a 1.75-mill tax to pay for current township expenses.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
