Election

It's time to vote. Early voting began Tuesday, Oct. 6. Absentee voting is underway. Election Day is Nov. 3. If there is one lesson Ohio's political campaigns should have learned by now, it is this: This election will be decided less by who has the best television commercial and more by who can actually get their voters to the polls. In other words, this election will be about turnout.

When President Trump comes to Dayton this weekend to rally for U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, it won't be because Ohio has suddenly become a swing state again. It will be because Republicans believe they have a race on their hands. For the past 10 years, Ohio has steadily moved to the right. Trump carried Ohio comfortably in both of his presidential victories. Republicans hold every statewide executive office. The GOP dominates the Ohio General Assembly. In many ways, Ohio has

Every election cycle brings a new list of issues politicians insist should dominate the conversation. Some focus on education. Others emphasize healthcare, public safety, or economic development. National political debates consume television news and social media feeds. If you ask Ohio families what issue matters most to them, the answer is increasingly clear: It’s affordability.

I’m sure you are sick of political ads. Turn on the television and there they are. Open your phone and another one. Check your mailbox and you'll find another glossy mailer telling you why one candidate is the answer to every problem and the other is a threat to civilization. The frustrating part is nearly everyone claims to dislike political advertising. Yet every election season, Ohio voters are flooded with it.

Want to cash a check? Show ID. Open a bank account? Show ID. Get on an airplane? Show ID. Rent a car? Show ID. We routinely verify who we are. So why is verifying eligibility to vote so controversial? That's the debate Ohio is having today.

For most of the past decade, Ohio politics has been fairly predictable. Republicans have won. Democrats hoped to keep it close. Donald Trump carried Ohio by eight points in 2016, eight points in 2020 and 11 points in 2024. Republicans hold every statewide executive office, control the Ohio General Assembly and occupy most of Ohio’s congressional seats.

Every election cycle, we rediscover our frustration with the two-party system. Republicans complain the Republican Party isn't conservative enough. Democrats complain the Democratic Party isn't progressive enough. Independents complain neither party represents them. Then comes: We need a third party. It's an appealing idea. More choices sound better than fewer choices. Competition is supposed to improve outcomes. Why should politics be any different? Americans certainly like

The Buckeye state is experiencing something we have not seen in decades: a full-scale taxpayer revolt. Across Ohio, homeowners are opening their property tax bills and asking a simple question: How much longer can this continue? Personally, my property value went up 10 percent, and I just experienced voters passing one of the largest 37 year school bond levy beginning in 2027.

If you're looking for certainty in Ohio politics, this isn't the year. Despite Ohio's Republican past decade of success, both statewide races remain remarkably competitive heading into the fall campaign season. According to the RealClearPolling average, Democrat Amy Acton holds a narrow 47.3% to 47.0% edge over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in the race for governor. The U.S. Senate contest is even tighter, with former Sen. Sherrod Brown leading incumbent Sen. Jon Husted b

Most Ohio voters can name the president. Many can name the governor. Some may even know their mayor. Ask who controls property tax assessments, oversees the county jail, maintains local roads or manages election operations, and most residents would draw a blank.

For the past few years, Republicans successfully campaigned on inflation, affordability and rising energy costs. In Ohio, those messages resonated with working families, suburban commuters and rural voters who spend more time on the road than much of the country. Now with fuel prices climbing again, Republicans risk facing the same economic frustration once used against Democrats.

Tuesday night answered who is driving politics in Southwest Ohio and who is not. Primary elections are not about broad consensus. Across the region, the electorate that showed up was smaller, more engaged and more ideologically sorted than the general electorate that will appear in November. At the top of the Republican ticket, Vivek Ramaswamy secured the nomination for governor with a campaign reflecting the current identity of the party: disciplined, message-driven and clo

The biggest decisions Ohio voters will make Tuesday might be the ones they know the least about. While attention will focus on the high-profile races at the top of the primary ballot, the contests that could have the most lasting impact are further down — judicial elections that will shape how laws are interpreted across the state for years to come. Two seats on the Supreme Court of Ohio are on the ballot this year. Though primary elections often receive little attention, thi