Here's what happened in central Ohio on midterm Election Night 2026
As results flowed in on Election Night, results largely favored Democrats locally and at the state level.
In a contentious governor's Democrat Amy Acton, the former Ohio Department of Health director, defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire businessman who built a national profile during a 2024 run in the presidential primary.
Republican Rep. Mike Carey, of Ohio's 15th congressional district, was also projected to have lost his reelection bid to Democratic challenger Don Leonard.
Voters showed their support for restrictions on data centers throughout central Ohio and local bond issues and levies were split from school districts to local governments throughout the area.
Check below for a replay of the night as it unfolded and come back to Dispatch.com for updates in the days ahead.
Madison Township fire levy passes as police levy rejected
Shahid Meighan
Madison Township voters have approved an additional levy to fund its fire department while rejecting a separate additional levy to fund its police department, according to final, unofficial results.
The levy for the Madison Township Fire Department was approved by 56% of voters, while approximately 44% voted against it, according to the unofficial results from the Franklin County Board of Elections, which will meet later to certify the counts.
The police levy, however, has failed, with 52% of township voters opposed and 47% in favor, according to final, unofficial results.
The county Board of Elections will meet within 21 days to certify the results of the election.
In upset, Don Leonard defeats Republican incumbent Mike Carey for House seat
Jordan Laird
In a surprise upset, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, a Columbus Republican, appears headed for defeat, with Democratic newcomer Don Leonard declaring he's won Ohio's 15th Congressional District.
The race demonstrates the power of the blue wave this Election Day and could be one of multiple Republican seats in Ohio to unexpectedly flip. Republican incumbents Max Miller in northeastern Ohio and Mike Turner in the Dayton area were both trailing their Democratic challengers in unofficial results.
With over 95% of the votes in in the race, Leonard had about 51% of the vote and Carey had about 46%, according to unofficial results. Brennan Barrington, the Libertarian, had nearly 3% of the vote. Leonard's campaign said he was giving his acceptance speech in Hilliard.
Columbus' two congressional districts are each drawn to heavily favor opposite sides of the political aisle.
Carey, a former coal lobbyist, has won the seat handily in three previous elections by 13 points or more. Leonard, a former OSU professor of city planning, is gambling that voters are unhappy with Republicans this election cycle.
Van Buren defeats McLeish for Licking County commissioner
Josué Perez
Republican Mark Van Buren defeated Democrat Mary "Kathy" McLeish in the race for a Licking County Commissioner seat, according to final, unofficial election results from the county Board of Elections.
Van Buren secured 59%, or 42,842 votes, compared to McLeish's 40%, or 29,231 votes, after all precincts reported, unofficial election results show. Both candidates spent the past several months working to sway voters as each seeks to succeed Republican Rick Black, a county commissioner since 2014 who didn’t seek reelection.
The results remain unofficial until the Licking County Board of Elections certifies them.
Incumbent Troy Balderson wins U.S. House race
Max Filby
Rep. Troy Balderson, R-Zanesville, has retained his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
With 84% of the vote in, the race was called for Balderson by both CNN and NBC News.
As of 10:12 p.m., Balderson carried 59.8% of the vote compared with his Democratic challenger Jerrad Christian who had 40.2% of the vote with 84% of precincts reporting.
Upper Arlington Schools $273M bond issue, levy defeated
Cole Behrens
Upper Arlington has declared defeat after saying voters rejected a quarter-billion bond issue to construct new middle schools and an early learning center.
In a 9:20 p.m. statement, Upper Arlington City schools said their bond issue failed by a margin of 51% to 49%. However, unofficial results as of 9:23 p.m. show only 23% of precincts have reported.
Upper Arlington City Schools was seeking a $273.5 million bond issue to finance construction of two new middle schools and and an early learning center, and to renovate and expand another school. The district is also seeking a permanent property tax levy of 4.9 mills.
In a statement, the school district its next step to develop a plan to "address the significant, immediate needs at these three schools and ensure the buildings remain safe for students and staff."
Republican Mike Carey trailing Democratic challenger Don Leonard in early results
Jordan Laird
With about 100,000 votes in the race tallied around 9:15 p.m., Democratic newcomer Don Leonard was leading over Republican Rep. Mike Carey in Ohio's 15th congressional district with about 56% of the vote to Carey's 41%, per unofficial results. Brennan Barrington, the Libertarian, had about 2% of the vote.
Carey, a former coal lobbyist, has won the seat handily in three previous elections by 13 points or more. Leonard, a former OSU professor of city planning, is gambling that voters are unhappy with Republicans this election cycle.
Data center bans seeing early support as votes are counted
Josué Perez
Bans on large data centers in the city of Pataskala and the village of Granville received heavy support in the first wave of unofficial election results tabulated Nov. 3.
In Pataskala, more than 2,000, or 73%, of voters supported the ban, while nearly 800 had voted against it, according to unofficial results counted as of 9:04 p.m. The issue in Granville had 82% support as of that time.
The proposed amendments for each municipality would prohibit building data centers that use more than 25 megawatts of power per month, which is enough energy to power around 20,000 homes. Citizen opponents in each area spent several weeks collecting signatures after sharing concerns over the water and electricity the facilities require to operate.
Democrat takes early lead in Licking County commissioner race
Josué Perez
Mark Van Buren has an early but narrow lead over Mary "Kathy" McLeish in the race for a Licking County Commissioner seat, according to unofficial preliminary election results.
Van Buren led with 51%, or 15,130 votes, compared to McLeish's 48%, or 14,312 votes, as of 8:12 p.m., unofficial election results show. Both candidates spent the past several months working to sway voters as each seeks to succeed Rick Black, a county commissioner since 2014 who didn’t seek reelection.
Democrat leads in Delaware County Commissioner race
Anna Lynn Winfrey
Republican Renee Vaughan and Democrat Ryan Grissinger are seeking election to the three-person Delaware County Board of County Commissioners following the retirement of commissioner Barb Lewis, who was first elected in November 2014.
The first batch of unofficial early vote totals showed Grissinger leading with 26,967 votes to Vaughan's 19,230 votes. Early votes tend to favor Democrats.
Joyce Beatty retains seat in U.S. House
Max Filby
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, is headed back to Washington.
The race was called by both CNN and NBC News just 15 minutes after polls closed at 7:30 p.m. in Ohio.
With 33% of the vote in, Beatty was ahead of her Republican challenger Cleophus Dulaney by a margin of roughly 82.5% to 17.5%, according to both CNN and NBC.
Polls have closed in Ohio on Election Day
Max Filby
It's official: the polls have closed for the 2026 midterm elections in Ohio.
Dispatch reporters will be combing through results for local and statewide races and issues throughout the night.
To see the results in your local races check out the links below. Check back throughout the evening for the latest results as the ballots are tallied.
Want national news? Follow USA TODAY on YouTube
Eleanor Kennedy
Voter turnout in Ohio's 3 largest counties surpasses 2022
Max Filby
With just under two hours to go before polls close in Ohio on Election Day, turnout has already surpassed the last midterm election and could outdo the 2018 midterms as well.
Voter turnout in Franklin County was at 51.8% as of 5:40 p.m., according to data from the Franklin County Board of Elections. In 2022, Franklin County turnout reached 49% of registered voters and in 2018 it reached 56%, according to the Ohio Secretary of State's office.
In Cuyahoga County, which is home to Cleveland, voter turnout was at 50.4% as of 5:40 p.m. compared to 47% in 2022 and 55% in 2018, data shows. Hamilton County, where Cincinnati is located, had 52.3% voter turnout as of 5:40 p.m. compared with 52% in 2022 and 58% in 2018.
It's unclear yet whether turnout numbers could surpass what was reported in recent presidential elections in Ohio.
In the 2024 presidential election, Franklin County reported 67% turnout, which was still a little more than 15 points higher than the midterm turnout as of 5:40 p.m.
How are Ohio voters feeling?
Eleanor Kennedy
Columbus voters express campaign exhaustion, frustration
Emma Wozniak and Bob Vitale
As voters cast their ballots Nov. 3, The Dispatch asked several their thoughts on the tone of this year's campaigns and what factors went into their votes. Across party lines, many shared their frustrations, and for some, exhaustion, with what they saw on their TV screens or heard on their radios on a daily basis.
"It was terrible, so negative," said T'Andrea Bethel. "And that comes from my 11-year-old son. The other day he asked when all the commercials were going to stop."
On his way out of the polls at Ridgewood Elementary School, Hilliard resident Brett Howell spoke to the challenges of making informed decisions while being increasingly exposed to the “mud-slinging” nature of today’s political ads. Artificial intelligence, he said, only adds to that barrier.
“TV and radio ads are so twisted, there is no way to really find out what the truth is. We’ve had to do a lot of investigation ourselves.”
So how does Howell choose who to vote for? To some degree, he said, it comes down to party lines – a reality that saddens him.
“There are people who still won’t talk to other people because they voted for (President Donald) Trump or they didn’t vote for Trump in the last election,” he said. “At the end of the day, I wish we could get back to just telling the facts and then let people make decisions based on their moral character rather than sensationalized information.”
Jon Husted casts vote, urges Ohioans to do the same
Emma Wozniak
Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is running against Democrat Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate, spoke to reporters after voting at Windermere Elementary School in Upper Arlington, sharing that he feels confident about the success of his campaign. He said he expects the race against Brown to be a close one, but based on early voter counts, "we feel comfortable about where we're at."
"We feel good," Husted said. "I mean, honestly, this has been a campaign that has been sort of like no other."
When asked about concerns he may have of citizens turned off by the divisiveness of this year's campaigns and choosing not to vote altogether, Husted emphasized that it is citizens' "right and responsibility" to do so.
"I don't care how fatigued you are, please vote," he said. "Campaigns are hard. It's very hard when you're in Ohio and more money is spent from people who don't live in Ohio than people who do live in Ohio. I have no control over basically 85% of the money that got spent in my campaign, because it's not me, it's somebody else. That's why I think it's important to do what I've been doing, getting out there and seeing people in small towns and big cities and suburbs and just going to see folks and see what's on their mind and lift them up."
Election Day photos from around central Ohio
Emily Rohozen
Central Ohioans lined up at polling locations in and around the area on Nov. 3. Check out the Election Day crowds in The Dispatch's photo gallery.
Amy Acton votes, feels 'joy and hope'
Bob Vitale
Democrat Amy Acton cast her ballot shortly before 10 a.m. for the entire ticket she leads as her party's candidate for governor.
At the end of a negative and expensive election season, she said she has been feeling the tide turn in recent weeks – without even taking into account a widely criticized ad by Republican Vivek Ramaswamy featuring Acton's estranged mother.
"There's actual joy and hope out here," she said after voting at her neighborhood polling place on the campus of Capital University in Bexley.
Acton was greeted and cheered on by neighbors and supporters before speaking with local and national media. She then headed off to greet voters on Columbus' East Side.
Vivek Ramaswamy pledges to work hard for Ohioans
Emma Wozniak
Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and his wife stopped to talk to reporters outside Burbank Early Childhood School on his way into the polls.
Ramaswamy said that regardless of how voters cast their ballots, "we're going to fight for you, equally hard," and he's confident his campaign will be successful.
Polling locations open
Emma Wozniak
As the sun started to rise over Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Dublin resident John Cacchio shared his frustration and disappointment with the "hate and vitriol" dominating modern-day politics.
"I grew up in a time when there used to be politicians that would work across the aisle and work out things for the American people," Cacchio, 67, said. "That doesn't happen on both sides. It's not Republican or Democrat, it's both sides. It's so tiring."
Cacchio, an Independent, said even though he wasn't thrilled with either choice for the Ohio governor or Senate races, it was very important for him to make it to the polls.
"Please get out and vote," he said. "It's your right to exercise that as an American."
Election Day FAQ. What to know
Eleanor Kennedy
Have questions about when and where to vote? What to bring? What you might see there?
We put together this handy-dandy Election Day FAQthat ran over the weekend. Here are some key points:
- Ohio polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- If you're in line by 7:30 p.m., you can still vote, even if you haven't checked in yet.
- Bring your ID! That can include an Ohio driver's license (be sure it's a physical copy) or state ID, a passport or military ID.
- On Election Day you have to vote at your polling place.Check your location through the Ohio Secretary of State's election website or contact your county board of elections before leaving home.
Trouble at the polls? Let us know
Eleanor Kennedy
We have a team of reporters in Columbus and across the state ready to look into reports of any issues at polling places, or rumors of the same. Email [email protected] if you see or experience anything unusual, or have any tips we should pursue.