In Ohio's 2026 Races, Watch the Money and the Voting Rules, Not Just the Candidates
Every election season we are trained to focus on the names at the top of the ballot. This year in Ohio, the more important story may be the rules of the game itself, and who is paying to set them.
Start with the money. The latest campaign finance reports show something you might not expect. In the governor's race, Democrat Amy Acton has outraised Republican Vivek Ramaswamy so far in 2026, roughly 10.6 million dollars to 9.6 million. Yet Ramaswamy heads into the summer with a commanding cash advantage, about 26.8 million on hand to Acton's 8.1 million. The reason is simple: he loaned his own campaign 25 million dollars. Further down the ballot the pattern repeats. Democrats outraised Republicans in the races for attorney general and treasurer, and still trail in cash on hand in every statewide race. When personal wealth and name recognition can outweigh broad grassroots support, it is worth asking what our elections actually measure.
Then look at the voting rules. Ohio Republicans advanced two measures in the same stretch. One is a constitutional amendment, headed to voters this November, that would enshrine a photo ID requirement at the polls. Photo ID at in-person voting is already law in Ohio, which raises a fair question about what the amendment changes in practice. The second measure is quieter and, to many election officials, more consequential: a requirement that mail-in voters include a copy of their photo ID with their ballot, beginning in 2027. Absentee voting in Ohio is already identity-verified before a ballot is mailed. The Ohio Election Officials Association and Democratic leaders have raised real administrability concerns, including an unfunded mandate to build an online absentee portal on a tight timeline. Allison Russo, the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, voted against both and called the mail measure rushed and underfunded. Her Republican opponent, Robert Sprague, supports both as a matter of election integrity. Reasonable people can weigh that debate differently, but voters deserve to understand exactly what each measure does before November.
There is also a federal thread running through this cycle. The FBI searched the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a group that registers voters, and questioned people across the state. No charges have been filed. Supporters call it a legitimate inquiry into registration practices; critics call it intimidation timed to an election year. Whatever it turns out to be, voters should follow it closely, because how we treat the groups that help people register says a great deal about the health of our democracy.
And in a notable break from the usual partisan script, Governor DeWine called for Ohio to abolish the death penalty, only for his own newly appointed attorney general to reaffirm support for it a day later. It is a reminder that the easy left-right map does not always hold.
This week's episode of Purple Political Breakdown: Ohio Edition walks through all of it, and then breaks down three congressional races shaped by this same environment: the 6th, the 7th, and the 8th. The throughline is simple. A better Ohio, on the way to a better America, depends on elections that are easy to participate in and hard to buy. That is worth more than any single candidate.
Podcast Host
Navigating the vast amount of bouncing around the political spectrum my entire life I have finally figured something important out. It doesn't matter. I've been religious, been in the military, went to a liberal school and all in all none of the political biases matter. We shouldn't let toxic discourse cloud our judgement and find a solution through logic and conversation. In pursuit of this mission I created this podcast to focus on these important conversations.
