Blue Ohio or Purple Ohio? Amy Acton, Sherrod Brown and What Ohio's 2026 Results Mean

Blue Ohio, or at the very least, Purple Ohio? The 2026 midterms are done. Radell Lewis walks through every major Ohio result, from governor and U.S. Senate to the statewide offices, the Ohio House and Senate, the Ohio Supreme Court, and Ohio's congressional districts, then puts it in perspective: it looks good for Ohio Democrats right now, but the job's not done.

First, the Ohio governor race. Dr. Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy, with Libertarian Don Kissick, a past guest, also running. Why Acton won: her record as a physician and former Ohio Department of Health director inside a Republican administration, and a Ramaswamy campaign that never connected with Ohio voters, capped by the ad featuring Acton's estranged mother. Then: what will Governor-elect Acton do on affordability, housing, property taxes, and data centers?

In the Ohio Senate race, Sherrod Brown defeated Jon Husted, flipping a Republican-held seat in a race closer than Radell expected.

Down the ballot: Allison Russo won Secretary of State over Robert Sprague, Seth Walsh won Treasurer over Jay Edwards, and John Kulewicz won Attorney General over Keith Faber. Republican Frank LaRose won Auditor over Annette Blackwell. Radell covers what each office does, what he wants from Russo on gerrymandering and clearer ballot language after Issue 3 put voter ID in the Ohio Constitution, and why the Attorney General matters for FirstEnergy and local data center fights.

The Ohio House went from a 65 to 34 Republican majority to 52 Republicans and at least 42 Democrats, with five races undecided. That breaks the Ohio House supermajority. Republicans keep theirs in the Ohio Senate even after Democrats gained two seats.

Ohio's congressional delegation flipped from a 10 to 5 Republican edge to 8 to 7 Democratic. Brian Poindexter beat Max Miller in Ohio's 7th District, Kristina Knickerbocker beat 12-term Rep. Mike Turner in the 10th, and Don Leonard beat Mike Carey in the 15th. Marcy Kaptur held the 9th, Greg Landsman held the 1st, and Jim Jordan won reelection. Democrats also won both Ohio Supreme Court seats.

So is Ohio blue? Not outright: Republicans still control both chambers. Radell closes with what is next: data centers, AI, and Flock cameras, the FirstEnergy trial, private school vouchers, property taxes, public transit, health care as ACA subsidies expire, and immigration and TPS. Democrats have their best chance in years to show they can govern Ohio, with limited power.

CHAPTERS 00:00 Welcome back and what is in this Ohio episode 01:14 Why Ohio state and local government matters 03:13 Ohio governor race: Amy Acton defeats Vivek Ramaswamy 07:08 What Ohioans want from Acton 07:34 Ohio Senate race: Sherrod Brown defeats Jon Husted 09:17 Why Ohio statewide offices matter 10:21 Secretary of State: Allison Russo, Issue 3 and gerrymandering 11:46 Treasurer Seth Walsh and Attorney General John Kulewicz 13:05 Auditor: Frank LaRose defeats Annette Blackwell 15:14 Ohio House and Ohio Senate: the supermajority math 16:09 Congress: Ohio flips to 8 Democrats and 7 Republicans 18:20 Ohio Supreme Court: is Ohio blue or purple? 18:46 What is next: data centers, FirstEnergy, vouchers, taxes 19:46 Health care, ACA subsidies and immigration 20:38 The job is not done

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