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Ohio Democratic Treasurer candidate holds 50,000-vote lead in race

Ohio Democratic candidate for treasurer Seth Walsh holds a 50,000-vote lead in the race for Ohio Treasurer against Ohio Republican lawmaker Jay Edwards. With 102,148 provisional ballots outstanding, and 100% of precincts reporting in unofficial results on the Ohio Secretary of State website, Walsh is winning the race…

Democratic candidates appear to have won both Ohio Supreme Court races

Ohio Democratic incumbent justice Jennifer Brunner and Democratic challenger Marilyn Zayas appear to have defeated their Republican opponents in unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website. Two slots for the Ohio Supreme Court were open, one currently filled by Republican Justice Dan Hawkins, and the…

Republican LaRose claims victory over Blackwell in Ohio Auditor race

Republican Frank LaRose claimed victory over Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell in the race for Ohio Auditor Wednesday morning. “I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as your next Ohio Auditor of State, but it’s certainly a victory that’s bittersweet,” LaRose said in a statement. “I know we’re…

Democrats win majority of governorships for the first time in 16 years

Democrats have won the majority of governor’s offices for the first time in 16 years after the GOP racked up major losses across the country. Democrats flipped governorships in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas and defended competitive races in Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to unofficial results from…

Democrat Allison Russo wins Ohio Secretary of State race as Republican concedes

Ohio Democratic lawmaker Allison Russo won election as the next Ohio Secretary of State on Tuesday, following a concession by opponent and current Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague. Russo told a crowd at the Ohio Democratic Party’s election night party that voters chose “a picture that is rooted in fairness…

Voters across the country reject data centers

In local elections across the country, Americans voted overwhelmingly to restrict the buildout of data centers in their communities. Late Tuesday evening, 33 ballot measures to restrict data centers were passed by voters or were leading in ongoing vote counts, according to the tracking website Data Centers on the…

The blue tsunami sweeps the US, as Democrats land huge gains in Congress

Voters across the country administered a sharp reprimand to President Donald Trump and Republicans who hold majorities in Congress, with Democrats gaining comfortable majorities in the Senate and the House. Several U.S. Senate and House races remained uncalled by The Associated Press as Election Day ended on the East…

Democrat Sherrod Brown defeats Republican Jon Husted in Ohio US Senate race

Former Ohio Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown will again represent Ohioans in the U.S. Senate, after defeating Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted. The Associated Press projected the Brown victory at 11:11 p.m. Brown, 73, was projected the winner Tuesday in a special election. Husted was appointed by Ohio Gov…

Democrat Amy Acton wins race for Ohio governor

Democrat Dr. Amy Acton has won Ohio’s race for governor according to unofficial election results. The Associated Press called the race at 10:49 p.m. Acton’s win marks the first time in 20 years that Ohio voters have selected a Democrat to lead the state. The political newcomer will likely have her work cut out for

Democrats score control of US Senate in stunning midterm victory

WASHINGTON — In a stunning upset, Democrats ousted Republicans and flipped control of the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, effectively establishing a barricade for President Donald Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term. Democrats will now have the power to block many of Trump’s nominees, both executive and…

Democrats win sizable US House majority amid sweep of close races

WASHINGTON — Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House early next year, after voters throughout the country rejected the policies that Republicans and President Donald Trump implemented during the last two years. The Associated Press, which States Newsroom looks to for the projected winner of congressional…

Party control of state leadership could flip across the country

While much of the national attention on today’s midterm elections has focused on control of Congress, voters across the country will also choose which party controls the levers of state power. Across the states, more than 6,000 legislative seats are up for grabs, leaving the partisan control of numerous chambers…

US Supreme Court rejects Trump DOJ’s attempt to freeze California vote counting

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, mere hours before Election Day in the midterms that will determine control of Congress, denied the Trump administration’s final attempt to force California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people it suspects are noncitizens. The decision marked a significant blow to President Donald…

As Election Day arrives, Democrats poised to see gains and pump brakes on Trump agenda

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already cast a ballot in the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and shape President Donald Trump’s remaining policy agenda. As of Monday, more than 57 million Americans had cast a vote, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab…

Trump promotes Reflecting Pool renovation the day before the election

WASHINGTON — One day before his party is forecast to lose control of the U.S. House, and possibly the Senate, President Donald Trump gathered guests and press at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to tout the “magnificent” renovation of the monument — a monthslong project plagued by algae, reclosure and false…

Ohio Supreme Court layout could change with election results

With the results of Tuesday’s general election, the Ohio Supreme Court could become a 7-0 fully Republican bench, keep the status quo of one Democratic justice, or see a slight shift with a second Democrat. Two justices are attempting to defend their seats: Republican Justice Dan Hawkins and Democratic Justice…

Ohio’s US Senate race is center stage in the 2026 midterm election

As voters go to the polls in Ohio today, they’ll cast ballots in one of the most expensive, closely watched elections in the United States. Its outcome sits squarely in tossup territory and it could hardly be more consequential. It could make the difference in deciding whether President Donald Trump faces Democratic…

Election 2026: Competitive congressional races to watch in Ohio

Ohio’s competitive congressional races could play a role in determining which party holds power in the U.S. House. There are currently 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent and two vacancies in the U.S. House. Midterm elections typically favor the party that is not currently in power. “I think if the…

Voters make governors, utility regulators answer for high power bills

As broad affordability concerns define elections across the country, voters in several states on Tuesday will have a say on their future utility bills. State utility regulators, who are facing heightened levels of attention and scrutiny amid high prices, are on the ballot in nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia…

Energy costs dominate midterms; Climate battles play out down ballot

This story was originally published by Capital & Main. In the final stretch of the 2026 midterm campaigns, the most potent climate issue in American politics arrived by delivery truck across the country. The average price of heating oil hit $6.23 a gallon for the week of Oct. 26, up from $3.60 a year earlier,

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Nov. 3, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

Ohio voters cast more than 1.7 million ballots early, surpassing 2022 totals

Ohioans cast more than 1.7 million ballots early this year, either in person, through the mail, or a drop box. That total is 17% higher than the early vote total for the last midterm election in 2022. Democratic voters outpaced Republicans slightly — casting roughly 468,000 ballots to the GOP’s 432,000. Unaffiliated…

Explosive spending, ugly ads and courtroom battles set stage for tense midterm elections

WASHINGTON — When the polls close Tuesday night, the 2026 U.S. election will go down as one of history’s most expensive and extraordinarily ugly midterms — galvanizing record-breaking early voter turnout among a deeply divided electorate. Voters on Saturday crossed the high-water mark of 52.7 million early votes cast…

Lawsuit could save Medicaid for 140,000 in Ohio

The American Medical Association says the Trump administration has unlawfully imposed a rule that could threaten health coverage for at least 140,000 Ohio Medicaid recipients. The AMA made that statement last week in a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit in which Columbus is a plaintiff. It seeks to stop…

Ohio Auditor of State candidates seek to enhance agency’s role in different ways

The race for Ohio’s auditor of state will come down to a small town mayor with years of experience working with the state office, or the current Ohio Secretary of State. Democrat Annette Blackwell and Republican Frank LaRose are vying for the seat, as the current auditor, Keith Faber, runs to become the next state

Where the candidates for Ohio attorney general stand on Flock, ICE

Of the competitive statewide races in Ohio, the candidates for attorney general share the most similar policy positions. Ohio’s attorney general enforces state laws, oversees policing policy, investigates claims of fraud and helps with major prosecutions. Republican Keith Faber is facing off against Democrat John…

Trump administration has slow-walked 380K potential immigrant voters

The Trump administration cut naturalization sharply over the past year, leading to accusations it’s holding back hundreds of thousands of people who might have voted in the midterms. It’s hard to say how those people might have voted had they become U.S. citizens. Naturalized citizens voted Democratic for president by…

Caretakers maintain Alex Pretti memorial despite repeated vandalism

More than nine months after immigration agents disarmed, shot and killed Alex Pretti in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, the site of his death on Nicollet Avenue is marked with carefully arranged flowers, candles, art and other offerings brought by visitors from near and far. As the snow melted in the spring…

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Nov. 2, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

Trump loses appeals over California ballots, Homeland Security operations

A federal appeals court on Friday denied a Trump administration demand that California set aside and not count the ballots of 20,000 suspected noncitizen voters, setting the stage for a possible appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against a U.S…

Trump continues rally spree in attempt to blunt Dem momentum in midterms lead-up

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is rounding out his midterm travel blitz in the final sprint leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3. With just four days to go, the Republican Party is aiming to keep its narrow majority in the U.S. House and control of the Senate. But elections forecasters see a bleak

Federal subpoenas to election officials mark escalating Trump DOJ pressure campaign

As the Trump administration waged a public legal fight with California over the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters in mid-October, behind the scenes a federal grand jury in Santa Ana issued a series of subpoenas to election officials in Los Angeles County at federal prosecutors’ urging. The subpoenas demanded a…

Early voting sets midterms record, breaking 2022 mark

WASHINGTON — As of early Friday, more than 46 million Americans had cast ballots ahead of Election Day, eclipsing the early voting turnout of the 2022 midterms, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. In the 2022 midterm elections, 45.9 million Americans voted early, according to the UF Election Lab…

Trump will hold in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas after all as election nears

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend are back on after initial cancellations, States Newsroom confirmed Friday. The Midwest rallies mark the final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3 — now just four days away — where the GOP is itching to maintain its narrow majority in the U.S.

Ramaswamy pulls down controversial ad after mass backlash

Ohio Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy has pulled down his controversial advertisement featuring Democrat Dr. Amy Acton’s estranged mother, one that has received bipartisan backlash for the past week. In the ad, the biological mom, Donna Arthur, calls the Democrat a liar. Court documents show Acton’s…

In a blizzard of lawsuits, Trump’s DOJ battles across the US over midterm elections

The Trump administration’s sweeping efforts to combat noncitizen voting and assert authority over elections came under intense scrutiny in courtrooms across the country on Thursday, as Democrats and voting rights groups alleged federal election interference. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the U.S…

Election officials brace for federal interference but expect to persevere

As concerns rise about the potential for federal influence over the results of next week’s midterm elections, many voting experts and advocates remain confident that the nation’s highly localized systems of administering and counting votes will persevere. Facing sinking approval ratings over high prices, the White…

Where are the tightest races for US House control right now? Here’s the rundown.

WASHINGTON — Communities throughout the country have been inundated with television ads and outside spending as politicians try to spur voter turnout in the most competitive U.S. House races in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The focus on a short list of campaigns highlights how much power voters in a small number of…

Trump cancels weekend Kansas and Iowa rallies 5 days ahead of election

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. An appearance scheduled for Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was also canceled, the Republican National Committee said in a late Thursday press release. In-person rallies packed…

Huge bipartisan majorities of Ohioans want a fix to Social Security, new poll shows

With Social Security recipients facing automatic 22% cuts in six years, Ohioans could scarcely be more unified in their demand that it be fixed, according to a poll a nonpartisan foundation is calling attention to. Due to decades of congressional inaction, the Social Security Trust Fund is now expected to become…

What the candidates for governor say they would do to make Ohio more affordable

Affordability is a top concern in Ohio’s competitive governor’s race. The candidates have different ways to provide relief. Whether it’s gas prices, utility bills, groceries or any other pocketbook issue — Ohioans need relief. That’s what the majority told us they are looking for when they vote. “Just everything is…

Ohio voter registrations are down

as the state faces what may be one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern history. The decline follows four years of new laws passed by the Republican legislature making it harder to register and harder to vote. Registrations as of Oct. 26 were down 52,562 from 2018, the

College students in swing states rally against off-campus voting sites, student ID bans

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Led by members of the marching band and Aggie and Aggietha, the North Carolina A&T State University mascots, hundreds of students at the nation’s largest historically Black university walked 40 minutes from campus to the nearest early polling site on a recent afternoon. They started the journey with…

Caring for aging parents is getting more expensive

Costs are soaring for people who care for their older parents and other family members, according to a new study. Out-of-pocket expenses are nearly 60% higher than they were just five years ago for family caregivers, who now spend an average of $11,508 a year on caregiving, according to a report released this week by

Some voters with felony convictions face new rules for the midterms

A half-dozen states enacted laws this year changing voting rules for people with felony convictions, including when their rights can be restored and how they can register to vote — affecting voters in next week’s elections. A couple other states advanced measures that will affect such voters in future elections. And…

Utah files criminal charges against Kalshi over operations within the state

New felony charges against Kalshi and a new federal lawsuit against Utah joined the litigation maze between the prediction market platform and the state this week. Kalshi and its co-founders, Tarek Mansour and Luana Lopes Lara, are now facing 12 online gambling promotion felony charges, one count of pattern of…

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Oct. 30, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

DHS targeting naturalized Americans in voter investigations, civil rights groups say

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is unlawfully scrutinizing naturalized U.S. citizens and placing them at risk of disenfranchisement, civil rights groups alleged in a lawsuit Wednesday, less than a week before Election Day. The lawsuit, filed in California, came as Homeland Security asked for an emergency…

New report shows there were 2,529 oil and gas incidents in Ohio in a decade

There were more than 2,500 oil and gas incidents reported in Ohio from 2015 through 2025, according to a new report. The number of incidents are generally increasing, going from 103 in 2015 to 268 in 2025, according to a new report published last week by FracTracker Alliance in partnership with Buckeye Environmental…

Ohio economists split on gas tax replacement

Ohio has paused its gasoline tax in an attempt to bring down high fuel prices, but some are debating whether to replace it altogether. In a recent survey, Ohio economists weighed the options. Revenue from the gas tax is mostly used to build and maintain roads and bridges. And as electric vehicles and hybrids…

Ohio Sec. of State LaRose refers progressive group to federal law enforcement

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is asking federal law enforcement to investigate another progressive voter engagement group, accusing them of missing key deadlines and doing “sloppy” work. “Ohio is the gold standard for elections for a reason,” LaRose said during a press conference Tuesday. A week until Election…

Commentary: Patients first? Putting the OSMA Ohio governor endorsement in perspective

In mid-September, the Ohio State Medical Association’s Political Action Committee (OSMAPAC) endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor over Dr. Amy Acton, a physician and Ohio’s former health director whom many credit with saving lives during the pandemic. Ramaswamy is a billionaire biotech investor. Physicians took…

Many Asian American, Pacific Islander women don't have a reproductive health provider

A survey of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women and gender-expansive people found nearly half of respondents don’t have a reproductive healthcare provider and more than half don’t know how far they would need to travel for abortion care. About 57% also said they are caregivers to a child or…

Pretti family: ‘We have not heard anything from the federal government’

Nine months after immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in south Minneapolis, Pretti’s parents are publicly calling on the U.S. Justice Department to release information and evidence related to Pretti’s killing. “We are here today begging for the Department of Justice to do what is right — to hold the men who…

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Oct. 29, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

Early voting surges in midterm elections as millions cast their ballots

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box as early voting is underway in a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 34 million people have…

Time for change? Permanent daylight saving time bill awaiting US Senate action

Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks. President Donald Trump wants year-round daylight saving time. The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats…

Courts to decide fate of Trump’s latest push to control voting as Election Day nears

Less than a week before Election Day, President Donald Trump’s unprecedented drive for power over elections has set the stage for a series of courtroom fights that could quickly lead to a high-stakes showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over the limits of federal authority. Democrats and voting rights advocates have…

Ohio Democrats outraised Republicans in home stretch of key U.S. House races

Democrats outraised Republicans in five of the six competitive U.S. House races in Ohio as the midterm election season enters its final days. That includes Ohio’s 10th Congressional district, where 12-term Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner faces a late surge from Democratic challenger Kristina Knickerbocker for a…

Where Ohio’s candidates for governor stand on abortion

As lawmakers continue to propose changes to abortion policy, the next Ohio governor will play a major role in blocking or allowing restrictions. Voters overwhelmingly chose to protect access to abortion in 2023. Issue 1 passed 57% to 43%, enshrining reproductive rights into the state constitution. It states that…

Price hikes aren’t all that’s at stake in FirstEnergy Ohio’s rate case

This story was originally published by Canary Media. Before a utility can raise electricity rates, it must get approval from regulators. In Ohio, some groups are looking to step into that process to make sure FirstEnergy, whose utilities supply power to over 2 million customers in the state, uses some of the money it…

900+ women criminally charged for their conduct during pregnancies

In the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, more than 900 women faced criminal charges for conduct related to their pregnancies, according to a new report. Most state laws that prohibit or regulate abortion seek to penalize those who provide…

Brighter streetlights cut nighttime violence, but only for a while, study finds

As days grow shorter and darkness arrives earlier across much of the country, a new study suggests that brighter streetlights may help reduce nighttime violence — at least temporarily. Researchers found that outdoor nighttime violent crime fell by about 46% in targeted areas of Newark, New Jersey, during the first six…

Missouri congressional map fight reaches voters as Republican campaign goes quiet

Missouri Republicans spent more than a year fighting to put a new congressional map into effect, including a costly campaign to prevent voters from having the final say. Now that voters have that say, the organized Republican campaign to defend the map has all but vanished. On Nov. 3, Missourians will decide…

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Oct. 28, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

Commentary: A New Approach to Closing the Disability Wealth Gap

It was another financial institution’s commercial that motivated me to create something different. Two busy white, apparently nondisabled, suburban parents were standing on their carefully manicured lawn talking about how they needed to go to the bank to plan for the future of their adult son with Down syndrome. They…

Trump’s DOJ sends 1,000 election monitors to 50 states; locations not yet disclosed

The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to every state ahead of Election Day, expanding a long-standing practice that’s spurred concern this year among Democrats and voting rights advocates because of President Donald Trump’s push to influence elections. The Justice Department for decades has…

Ohio’s Tandana Foundation on a humanitarian mission in Mali

With wars and violence erupting in hot spots around the world, Mali is easy to overlook although the West African nation of 26 million has been embroiled non-stop in coups and armed conflicts for more than a decade. Helping Malians has been the focus of an Ohio-based non-profit group, The Tandana Foundation, for all…

Rising prices squeeze more Americans ahead of pivotal midterm elections

Americans’ growing frustration over high prices has defined many political campaigns ahead of November’s midterm elections. Rising costs of healthcare, gas and groceries during President Donald Trump’s second term have put Republicans on defense, not only in Washington, but in statehouse and gubernatorial races across…

Tennessee officials urge caution amid reports of ballot problems

A Tennessee Democratic lawmaker is calling for election officials to resolve complaints that voting machines are defaulting to candidates they didn’t want to select but stopped short of saying ballots are rigged. “Obviously, this keeps coming up and it needs to be addressed after this election, because it’s not…

Catching Our Eye News Roundup, Oct. 27, 2026

Every morning in the Ohio Capital Journal’s free newsletter, The Eye-Opener, we round up the news and commentary from across Ohio and around the country and world that is catching our attention. We call this feature Catching Our Eye, republished here. Please subscribe to our free daily newsletter to get all the Ohio…

‘We don’t want it’: Voter backlash against data centers consumes midterm elections

SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as you can see, there’s houses right across the street, roughly 100 feet,” said lifelong…

Ohio Haitians and their supporters march on Columbus with demands

SPRINGFIELD — It’s been a golden autumn week in Ohio as many celebrated some of its happy traditions. In Circleville, the 119th Pumpkin Show opened this past Wednesday. And in nearby Deer Creek State Park, people readied for the annual Halloween Campout, decorating campsites with fake skeletons, ghouls, graves and…