Red, Purple, or Blue State? Democrats Make Gains in Ohio

For the first time in 20 years, Ohio elected a Democrat governor, as well as its first Jewish and female governor, with Amy Acton. In a race that was called by Decision Desk at 10:30 p.m., Acton prevailed over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy with 52.3% of the vote to 44.4%.

Whether or not Ohio would retain its red state status or return to being a purple state has been up for much discussion. It’s very likely that that conversation will now be revisited.

According to NBC News exit polls, every single one of Ohio’s 88 counties shifted toward Democrat from the 2024 presidential election, when the Buckeye State voted for President Donald Trump for the third time, overall by 11 points against then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat nominee.

Last July’s opinion piece for the Daily Signal touched upon Ohio being a bellwether and its recent red-state status. One could say that Ohio certainly still is a bellwether, in that the blue wave came for the Buckeye State and swept the country in the 2026 midterms.

Not only did Ramaswamy lose, but so did Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed by outgoing, term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine to replace now-Vice President JD Vance. Former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown is now senator-elect and will be senator once more, after losing to now-Sen. Bernie Moreno.

Ohio’s politics for the U.S. Senate remain interesting, especially as Moreno will now have to serve with the man he beat in 2024 and, as the likely next chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will focus on seeing Brown, who has to run again in two years if he so desires, beaten again.

Ohio’s congressional delegation has also shrunk. At 10-5 in favor of Republicans going into the November elections, it will be 8-7 at the start of the 120th Congress in January, this time in favor of Democrats. Republicans failed to flip the two redistricted districts in their favor, with Derek Merrin’s loss to Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Eric Conroy’s loss to Rep. Greg Landsman in the 1st Congressional District.

Additionally, Republican Reps. Max Miller of Ohio’s 7th Congressional District, Mike Turner of the 10th, and Mike Carey of the 15th also lost reelection.

There is a forlorn sentiment within the Republican Party, including in Ohio. “It’s the war, it’s Epstein, it’s data centers. When Republicans might lose a Senate seat in MS, it’s not just about candidate quality or how well a campaign was run. It was all foreseeable. It was all avoidable,” an Ohio GOP strategist told the Daily Signal.

Ohio Democrats also won the offices of attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state. Republican Frank LaRose, currently the secretary of state, did win his race for state auditor.

Even if Acton won, as was predicted in the polls, forecasts, and prediction markets, there was always a question as to how much veto power she would have, given that Republicans currently enjoy a supermajority in the state legislature. They ultimately ended up losing that supermajority, at least in the Ohio House, as of Wednesday morning.

With what could no doubt be seen as a grim outlook at the state and federal level in Ohio and around the country with the effect of that blue wave, many look to 2028, 2030, and 2032 for better or for worse.

Licking County Republican Party Chairman and GOP strategist Matt Dole had a much more hopeful, positive tone to share with the Daily Signal in that regard.

“This wasn’t a trend-setting election. In 1958, Republicans faced a tsunami election and Democrats ruled much of state government for the next 30 years. In 2006, Democrats held power for a scant 4 years—because the election was an in-the-moment repudiation, rather than part of a larger movement. This election was more 2006 than 1958—Ohio Republicans facing the headwinds of a specifically bad national environment. Democrats will have more real estate to defend in 2028 and 2030 and Republicans will be ready to hold them accountable,” Dole predicted.

He also spoke specifically to Ohio’s state legislative races. “Let’s not forget that one of the Democrats’ points of pride last night in Ohio was breaking the Republican legislative supermajority. Not winning the majority. Not even getting close to winning a majority. Just having a slightly smaller disadvantage,” he offered.

For all of the celebrations about Democrat wins, especially in Ohio, Brown’s win was still something of a narrow one for a midterm election year featuring a blue wave. With over 95% reporting, Brown ultimately enjoys 50.01% compared with Husted’s 45.15%, according to Decision Desk.

Dole added that this speaks to “Ohio being red, with a glitch, rather than purple or blue.”

There is another silver lining for Republicans, especially Ramaswamy. Even if he did not win the governorship, the ballot initiative for voter ID in the state constitution, which he called for in May, passed with over 65% of the vote.

Although Trump campaigned for Ramaswamy and Husted at rallies where other Ohio Republicans spoke, it does not appear he has spoken about the race on Truth Social as of Wednesday morning. The only statewide race he does appear to have addressed on social media is Texas’ gubernatorial race, where he referred to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost, as having turned into a “RINO.”

Vance, an Ohio native who also campaigned for these candidates, posted his thoughts to X on Wednesday morning, though his post did not specifically address Ohio races.

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