Statewide, Ohio is red
There were nine races in which every Ohioan had a choice, and they chose Republicans all nine times, according to results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office.
The high-profile U.S. Senate race between JD Vance and Tim Ryan was the only one that was remotely close, with Vance winning 53-47. In the three Ohio Supreme Court races, Republicans got about 56% or 57% of the vote, and in the five state administrative office races, no Republican got less than 58.8% of the vote.
Many would say that’s no big surprise, as Republicans have dominated statewide offices for over a decade.
But after Ohio’s Republican Speaker of House was arrested in a massive corruption/bribery scandal, and with the possibility of abortion issues energizing Democratic turnout, some thought there might be a slight shift.
There was not.
In state legislative districts, Ohio is red
Ohioans voted Tuesday for state legislature seats based on maps that the state Supreme Court said had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered by the Republican-led redistricting commission.
According to Tuesday’s unofficial results, the Ohio House of Representatives, which currently operates with a 64-35 Republican majority, likely will go to a 68-31 Republican majority in January (in District 5, a Republican very narrowly leads, so it could end up 67-32).
Of the 10 Ohio House seats in the core Miami Valley, only one will be held by a Democrat — Willis Blackshear Jr., who ran unopposed in the heavily Democratic District 38.
In the Ohio Senate, what has been a 25-8 Republican majority likely will move to 26-7 in January, according to results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. All five state Senate districts that cover the core Dayton region have been, and will continue to be, represented by Republicans.
DeWine dominates
Less than 24 hours before the polls closed, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, was strenuously booed at former President Donald Trump’s Dayton rally for Vance and other Republican candidates.
But the election results told a very different story. DeWine clearly had the highest vote total and percentage of all candidates in statewide races, dominating former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley 62.8% to 37.2% in the race for governor.
Warren County oddity
Warren County is solidly Republican. Statewide Republican candidates who got 56-63% of the Ohio vote got 67-73% of the vote in Warren County.
But starting in January, Warren County’s U.S. Congressman will be a Democrat, as Greg Landsman defeated incumbent Republican Steve Chabot, who had spent most of the past three decades in Congress. Chabot dominated the Warren County vote, but Landsman easily won the Hamilton County part of the district, which changed under the new maps.
The same thing happened in the state school board race involving Warren County, where right-leaning incumbent Jenny Kilgore lost to teachers union-endorsed Katie Hofmann. Again, Kilgore won the Warren County vote, but lost in Hamilton County.
National view
Control of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate was unresolved as of Wednesday noon, with key races still uncalled.
The House was leaning in favor of Republicans.
The Senate was less certain, with the results in key battleground states not yet projected include Georgia (likely runoff), Nevada, Wisconsin and Arizona, Axios reported.
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