Brown, Husted Win Ohio Nominations in Voting Update
Sherrod Brown and Jon Husted won their party nominations in Ohio’s primary elections on Tuesday, setting up a November Senate special election. The voting update puts Brown, a former three-term senator, and Husted into a race that will decide who finishes the remainder of JD Vance’s six-year term.
Ohio Senate Race
Brown won the Democratic nomination after facing one opponent. Husted won the Republican nomination without opposition. The special election will be decided on 3 November, and the result will determine who serves the rest of the term Vance won in 2022.
Brown is seeking a comeback after losing his re-election bid in 2024. Husted was appointed by Mike DeWine to replace Vance. That gives the November contest a rare mix: an elected senator trying to return, and an appointee trying to keep the seat for his party.
Democrats Target Four Seats
Chuck Schumer has placed Ohio among four Senate seats Democrats are prioritizing in their effort to retake control of the chamber. The race is expected to be high-profile and expensive in November’s midterm elections, and the main Senate Republican Super Pac has announced plans to spend $79m in Ohio.
Ohio has backed Donald Trump all three times he was on the ballot, and by increasingly wide margins. Democrats are hoping Trump administration unpopularity will help them expand their seats in a congressional delegation that now has five Democrats and 10 Republicans.
Other Ohio Contests
Tuesday also produced the Republican choice in northwest Ohio’s House race, where Derek Merrin was selected to face Marcy Kaptur. Kaptur is the longest-serving female member of the House, and her Toledo-centered district became more conservative under new maps approved by a state redistricting commission last year.
Kaptur lost to Merrin in 2024 by fewer than 2,400 votes. In the governor’s race, Vivek Ramaswamy won the Republican primary to succeed DeWine, and Amy Acton won the Democratic nomination. Those races add to an Ohio ballot that will draw attention beyond the Senate contest alone.
