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2026 United States Senate special election in Ohio
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 | Column 8 | Column 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2026 | ||||||||
| Nominee |
Jon Husted
Sherrod Brown
Party
Republican
Democratic | | | | Jon Husted | Sherrod Brown | | Republican | Democratic | | | | | | | | | | | | Jon Husted | Sherrod Brown | | | | | | | | | Republican | Democratic | | | | | | | | | Incumbent U.S. senator Jon Husted Republican | Incumbent U.S. senator Jon Husted Republican | | | | | | | | | Incumbent U.S. senator Jon Husted Republican | | | | | | | | |
The 2026 United States Senate special election in Ohio will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Ohio. Former Republican U.S. senator JD Vance resigned from office on January 10, 2025, to assume the vice presidency of the United States on January 20. Governor Mike DeWine appointed fellow Republican Jon Husted to fill the vacancy. Husted is running to complete the term that Vance won in 2022.
Primary elections were held on May 5, 2026. Senator Jon Husted secured his party's nomination with no opposition, while former senator Sherrod Brown secured the Democratic nomination.
This will be the first U.S. Senate special election in Ohio since 1954.
After voting for President Barack Obama in both 2008 and 2012, Ohio has trended increasingly Republican in subsequent years and is now considered a moderately to strongly red state at the federal and state level. Republicans control all statewide offices, majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and hold both Senate seats. Republicans also have a majority of the state's House delegation with ten seats compared to five for Democrats.
Republican nominee Donald Trump won Ohio in 2016 and 2020 by 8 percentage points, and in 2024 grew his margin to 11 percentage points. Additionally, Republican JD Vance, now the vice president of the United States, defeated Democrat Tim Ryan in the 2022 U.S. Senate election by slightly over 6 points, while Republican Bernie Moreno defeated then-incumbent Sherrod Brown in the 2024 U.S. Senate election by slightly over 3.5 points.
According to Ohio law, if a U.S. Senate seat becomes vacant, the governor appoints a replacement who serves until December 15 following the next regularly scheduled statewide election that occurs more than 180 days after the vacancy. A special election to fill the remainder of the term is then held concurrently with that regular state election, which in this case would be the one on November 3, 2026. Governor Mike DeWine chose then-Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted to replace Vance in the Senate.
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Jon Husted, lieutenant governor of Ohio (2019–2025)
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Matt Dolan, former state senator from the 24th district (2017–2024) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022 and 2024
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Frank LaRose, Ohio secretary of state (2019–present) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2024
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Vivek Ramaswamy, former CEO of Roivant Sciences (2014–2023) and candidate for president in 2024
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Jane Timken, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party (2017–2021) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022
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Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio (2019–present) and former U.S. senator (1995–2007)
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Dave Yost, Ohio attorney general (2019–present) (ran for governor, later withdrew)
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Jon Husted, incumbent U.S. senator (2025–present)
| Campaign finance reports as of April 18, 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Husted (R) | $10,257,823 | $2,017,868 | $8,239,954 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | 733,270 | 100.00 | |
| 733,270 | 100.00 |
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Sherrod Brown, former U.S. senator (2007–2025)
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Ron Kincaid, IT professional and Special Olympics coach
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Fred Ode, venture capital executive
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Chris Volpe, tech entrepreneur
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Lynnea Lau, research integrity executive
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Dakota Rose, community activist
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Shontel Brown, U.S. representative from Ohio's 11th congressional district (2021–present) (running for re-election)
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Greg Landsman, U.S. representative from Ohio's 1st congressional district (2023–present) (running for re-election)
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Tim Ryan, former U.S. representative from Ohio's 13th congressional district (2003–2023), nominee for U.S. Senate in 2022, and candidate for president in 2020
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Emilia Sykes, U.S. representative from Ohio's 13th congressional district (2023–present) (running for re-election)
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Casey Weinstein, state senator from the 28th district (2025–present)
Italics indicate a withdrawn candidate.
| Campaign finance reports as of April 18, 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sherrod Brown (D) | $24,471,408 | $7,956,946 | $16,514,461 |
| Ron Kincaid (D) | $41,804 | $42,980 | $0 |
| Chris Volpe (D) | $4,337 | $4,168 | $168 |
| Fred Ode (D) | $5,001,938 | $4,970,194 | $31,744 |
Results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Brown 70–80% 80–90% 90–100%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 708,005 | 89.47 | |
| Democratic | 83,350 | 10.53 | |
| 778,868 | 100.00 |
Former Libertarian National Committee chair William Redpath is running as a Libertarian. Health care consultant Jeffrey Kanter was disqualified from the Libertarian primary by Ohio Libertarians, citing Kanter submitted hundreds of invalid signatures with his candidate petition.
- Bill Redpath, former Libertarian National Committee chair and nominee for 2022 United States Senate election in Illinois
Disqualified
- Jeffrey Kanter, healthcare consultant
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | 4,948 | 100.00 | |
| 4,948 | 100.00 |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Inside Elections | Tilt R | April 23, 2026 |
| The Cook Political Report | Tossup | April 13, 2026 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Lean R | January 29, 2026 |
| Race To The WH | Tossup | April 21, 2026 |
Jon Husted vs. Sherrod Brown
Aggregate polls
| Source of pollaggregation | Datesadministered | Datesupdated | JonHusted (R) | SherrodBrown (D) | Other/Undecided | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 270toWin | April 20–21, 2026 | April 21, 2026 | 50.5% | 46.0% | 3.5% | Husted +4.5% |
| Decision Desk HQ | through April 14, 2026 | April 20, 2026 | 48.6% | 45.8% | 5.6% | Husted +2.8% |
| Race to the WH | through April 14, 2026 | April 21, 2026 | 48.4% | 46.4% | 5.2% | Husted +2.0% |
| RealClearPolitics | December 6, 2025 – April 14, 2026 | April 21, 2026 | 48.3% | 45.7% | 6.0% | Husted +2.6% |
| Average | 49.0% | 46.0% | 5.0% | Husted +3.0% |
| Poll source | Date(s)administered | Samplesize | Marginof error | JonHusted (R) | SherrodBrown (D) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green State University/YouGov | April 7–14, 2026 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 4.5% | 50% | 47% | 3% | – |
| Echelon Insights (R) | April 3–9, 2026 | 413 (LV) | ± 5.8% | 51% | 45% | – | 4% |
| Quantus Insights (R) | March 13–14, 2026 | 784 (LV) | ± 3.8% | 46% | 44% | 4% | 6% |
| OnMessage Public Strategies (R) | March 3–8, 2026 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | 45% | 47% | – | 8% |
| EMC Research (D) | February 10–22, 2026 | 1,343 (LV) | ± 2.7% | 47% | 51% | – | 2% |
| Emerson College | December 6–8, 2025 | 850 (RV) | ± 3.3% | 49% | 46% | – | 5% |
| Bowling Green State University/YouGov | October 2–14, 2025 | 800 (RV) | ± 4.5% | 48% | 49% | 3% | – |
| Hart Research (D) | September 19–22, 2025 | 800 (LV) | ± 3.5% | 45% | 48% | – | 7% |
| Emerson College | August 18–19, 2025 | 1,000 (RV) | ± 3% | 50% | 44% | – | 7% |
| Bowling Green State University/YouGov | April 18–24, 2025 | 800 (RV) | ± 4.1% | 49% | 46% | 5% | – |
| Bowling Green State University/YouGov | February 14–21, 2025 | 800 (RV) | ± 4.0% | 47% | 41% | – | 12% |
- 2026 Ohio elections
Partisan clients
Official campaign websites
- Sherrod Brown (D)
- Jon Husted (R)
- Greg Levy (I)
- Bill Redpath (L)
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