Ohio State Senate elections, 2024
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| 2024 Ohio Senate Elections | |
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| Primary | March 19, 2024 |
| General | November 5, 2024 |
| Past Election Results |
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Elections for the Ohio State Senate took place in 2024. The general election was on November 5, 2024. The primary was March 19, 2024. The filing deadline was December 20, 2023.
Following the election, Republicans maintained a 24-9 veto-proof majority.
The Ohio State Senate was one of 85 state legislative chambers with elections in 2024. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.
Party control
| Ohio State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
| Democratic Party | 7 | 9 | |
| Republican Party | 26 | 24 | |
| Total | 33 | 33 | |
Candidates
General election
Ohio State Senate general election 2024 |
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| Office |  Democratic |
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Other |
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| District 8 |
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| District 10 |
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| District 12 |
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| District 14 |
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| District 16 |
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| District 18 |
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| District 20 |
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| District 22 |
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| District 24 |
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| District 26 |
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| District 28 |
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| District 30 |
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| District 32 |
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= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection
Primary
Ohio State Senate primary 2024 |
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| Office | Democratic |
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Other |
| District 2 |
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| District 4 |
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| District 6 |
Did not make the ballot: |
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| District 8 |
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| District 10 |
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| District 12 |
The Democratic primary was canceled. Did not make the ballot: |
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| District 14 |
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| District 16 |
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| District 18 |
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| District 20 |
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| District 22 |
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| District 24 |
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| District 26 |
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| District 28 |
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| District 30 |
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| District 32 |
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Voting information
- See also: Voting in Ohio
General election race ratings
The table below displays race ratings for each race in this chamber from CNalysis.
Campaign finance
- See also: Campaign finance
The section and tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. Districts and elections are grouped in sections of 10. To view data for a district, click on the appropriate bar below to expand it. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA.
Incumbents who were not re-elected
Incumbents defeated in general elections
No incumbents lost in general elections. Five incumbents have lost a general election since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2010.
Incumbents defeated in primaries
No incumbents lost in primaries. No incumbent has lost a primary since Ballotpedia began gathering data in 2010.
Retiring incumbents
Six incumbents did not file for re-election in 2024.[1] This equaled the average of six retirements per election cycle from 2010 to 2022. Those incumbents were:
Primary election competitiveness
This section contains data on state legislative primary election competitiveness in Ohio. These totals include data from all regularly-scheduled House and Senate elections. For more information about Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.
Post-filing deadline analysis
The following analysis covers all state legislative districts up for election in Ohio in 2024. Information below was calculated on March 13, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.
Twenty-five incumbents facd primary challenges, representing 29% of all incumbents running for re-election. This was the highest number and percentage of contested incumbents since at least 2014.
Of the 25 incumbents in contested primaries, four were Democrats and 21 were Republicans.
Ohio had 51 contested state legislative primaries in 2024, a 9% increase from 2022.
Of the 51 contested primaries, there were 19 for Democrats and 32 for Republicans. For Democrats, this was the same as in 2022. For Republicans, the number was up 14% from 28 in 2022.
Overall, 286 major party candidates — 138 Democrats and 148 Republicans — filed to run. All 99 House and 16 of 33 Senate seats were up for election.
Twenty-eight of those seats were open, meaning no incumbents filed. This guaranteed that at least 24% of the seats up for election would be represented by newcomers in 2025.
Open seats
The table below shows the number and percentage of open seats in the Ohio State Senate from 2010 to 2024.[2]
| Open Seats in Ohio State Senate elections: 2010 - 2024 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total seats | Open seats | Seats with incumbents running for re-election |
| 2024 | 16 | 6 (37 percent) | 10 (63 percent) |
| 2022 | 17 | 6 (35 percent) | 11 (65 percent) |
| 2020 | 16 | 5 (31 percent) | 11 (69 percent) |
| 2018 | 17 | 10 (59 percent) | 7 (41 percent) |
| 2016 | 16 | 6 (38 percent) | 10 (62 percent) |
| 2014 | 17 | 4 (24 percent) | 13 (76 percent) |
| 2012 | 18 | 2 (11 percent) | 16 (89 percent) |
| 2010 | 17 | 1 (6 percent) | 16 (94 percent) |
Legislative referrals
- See also: Legislative referral
A legislative referral, or legislatively referred ballot measure, is a ballot measure that appears on the ballot due to a vote of the state legislature. A legislative referral can be a constitutional amendment, state statute, or bond issue.
As of the 2024 election, a 60% vote was required during one legislative session for the Ohio General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 60 votes in the Ohio House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Ohio State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
At the time of the 2024 election, Republicans held a 26-7 majority in the Senate and a 67-32 majority in the House. Democrats needed to win 13 Senate seats and 28 House seats to be able to pass legislative referrals without Republican votes. Republicans needed to lose six Senate seats and seven House seats to lose the ability.
Process to become a candidate
See statutes: Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 10 of the Ohio Revised Statutes
For all candidates
Filing fees apply to all candidates and are as follows:[3]
| Filing fees | |
|---|---|
| Office | Fee |
| Governor, United States Senator, and statewide offices | $150 |
| United States Representative and state legislators | $85 |
For partisan candidates
See statutes: Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 05 of the Ohio Revised Code
A partisan candidate must file a declaration of candidacy and petition and pay the required filing fees. Petition signature requirements are detailed in the table below (for more information regarding petition requirements, see below).[4]
| Signature requirements for partisan candidates | |
|---|---|
| Office | Number of signatures required |
| Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices | 1,000 qualified electors who are members of the same political party as the candidate |
| United States Representative and state legislators | 50 qualified electors who are members of the same political party as the candidate |
| **The signature requirement for minor party candidates is one-half the number required of major parties.[4] | |
For independent candidates
See statutes: Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 257 of the Ohio Revised Code
An unaffiliated candidate must submit a declaration of candidacy and nominating petition and pay the required filing fees. Petition signature requirements are detailed in the table below (for more information regarding petition requirements, see below).[5]
| Signature requirements for independent candidates | |
|---|---|
| Office | Number of signatures required |
| Governor, United States Senator, and other statewide offices | 5,000 qualified electors |
| United States Representative and state legislators | Varies by size of district; if 5,000 or more electors voted for the office of governor in the most recent election, 1 percent of electors; if less than 5,000 electors voted for said office, 5 percent of the vote or 25, whichever is less |
For write-in candidates
A write-in candidate must file a declaration of intent in order to have his or her votes counted. Write-in candidates may participate in either primary or general elections and are subject to the same filing fees as all other candidates.[6]
Qualifications
Article 2, Section 3 of the Ohio Constitution states: Senators and representatives shall have resided in their respective districts one year next preceding their election, unless they shall have been absent on the public business of the United States, or of this state.
Article 2, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution states: No person hereafter convicted of an embezzlement of the public funds, shall hold any office in this state; nor shall any person, holding public money for disbursement, or otherwise, have a seat in the General Assembly, until he shall have accounted for, and paid such money into the treasury.
Salaries and per diem
- See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
| State legislative salaries, 2024[7] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $71,099/year | No per diem is paid. |
When sworn in
Ohio legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.[8][9]
Ohio political history
Trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.
Ohio Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-six years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Presidential politics in Ohio
2020
- See also: Presidential election, 2020
Presidential election in Ohio, 2020
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
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| ✔ |
 
| Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R) |
53.3
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3,154,834 | 18 |
 
| Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D) |
45.2
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2,679,165 | 0 | |
 
| Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L) |
1.1
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67,569 | 0 | |
 
| Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G) |
0.3
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18,812 | 0 | |
 
| Brian T. Carroll/Amar Patel (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) |
0.0
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1,450 | 0 | |
 
| Jade Simmons/Claudeliah Roze (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) |
0.0
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212 | 0 | |
 
| Tom Hoefling/Andy Prior (Unaffiliated) |
0.0
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114 | 0 | |
 
| Dario David Hunter/Dawn Neptune Adams (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) |
0.0
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27 | 0 | |
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| Kasey Wells/Rachel Wells (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) |
0.0
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16 | 0 | |
| President Boddie/Eric Stoneham (Unaffiliated) |
0.0
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3 | 0 | |
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Total votes: 5,922,202 |
2016
- See also: Presidential election, 2016
| U.S. presidential election, Ohio, 2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 43.6% | 2,394,164 | 0 | |
| Republican |  Donald Trump/Mike Pence |
51.7% | 2,841,005 | 18 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson/Bill Weld | 3.2% | 174,498 | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka | 0.8% | 46,271 | 0 | |
| Other | Richard Duncan/Ricky Johnson | 0.4% | 24,235 | 0 | |
| - | Other/Write-in | 0.3% | 16,314 | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 5,496,487 | 18 | |||
| Election results via: Federal Election Commission | |||||
Ohio presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 12 Democratic wins
- 19 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | D | D | D | R | D | R | R | R | D | R | R | D | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | D | D | R | R | R |
Redistricting following the 2020 census
Due to a 2022 Ohio Supreme Court ruling, the Ohio Redistricting Commission was required to draw new state legislative maps following the 2022 elections.[10]
On September 26, 2023, the Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 6-0 (with one member absent) to adopt new state legislative maps.[11][12] On October 5, the ACLU of Ohio filed a motion on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and other plaintiffs asking the Ohio Supreme Court to invalidate the new state legislative maps on the grounds that they violated the state constitution.[13]
On November 27, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the maps and dismissed the following cases: League of Women Voters of Ohio et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., Bennett et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., and Ohio Organizing Collaborative et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al.[14] Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote for the majority: "The bipartisan adoption of the September 2023 plan is a changed circumstance that makes it appropriate to relinquish our continuing jurisdiction over these cases.[15]
The majority was composed of the court's four Republicans.
Justice Jennifer L. Brunner wrote a dissent on behalf of the court's other two Democrats, saying, "It is illusory to suggest that a bipartisan vote to adopt the September 2023 plan constitutes a change in circumstances that somehow diminishes our review power or renders a unanimous redistricting plan constitutionally compliant. There is nothing in Article XI, Section 6 that suggests that bipartisan agreement on a plan renders it presumptively constitutional, and we have flatly rejected that idea."[16]
See also
| Ohio | State Legislative Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
- ↑ Ballotpedia defines a seat as open if the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for his or her seat. If the incumbent withdrew from or did not participate in the primary but later chose to seek re-election to his or her seat as a third party or independent candidate, the seat would not be counted as open. If the incumbent retired or ran for a different seat in the same chamber, his or her original seat would be counted as open unless another incumbent from the same chamber filed to run for that seat, in which case it would not be counted as open due to the presence of an incumbent.
- ↑ Ohio Revised Code, "Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 10," accessed March 4, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ohio Revised Code, "Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 05," accessed March 4, 2025
- ↑ Ohio Revised Code, "Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 257," accessed March 4, 2025
- ↑ Ohio Revised Code, "Title 35, Chapter 3513, Section 041," accessed March 4, 2025
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
- ↑ Ohio Constitution, "Article 2, Section 02," accessed November 1, 2021
- ↑ Ohio.gov, "A Guidebook for Ohio Legislators," accessed November 1, 2021
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "Ohio is about to hold elections for unconstitutional congressional and legislative districts. Here’s how it happened," October 9, 2022
- ↑ Ohio Capital Journal, "Ohio Redistricting Commission adopts sixth version of Statehouse maps with bipartisan support," September 27, 2023
- ↑ WCBE, "Ohio Redistricting Commission unanimously approves 6th version of House and Senate maps," September 27, 2023
- ↑ WFMJ, "Newly enacted district maps challenged by voting rights groups," October 5, 2023
- ↑ AP, "Ohio Supreme Court dismisses 3 long-running redistricting lawsuits against state legislative maps," November 28, 2023
- ↑ Ohio Capital Journal, "Ohio Supreme Court dismisses redistricting challenge, leaving Statehouse maps in place," November 28, 2023
- ↑ Supreme Court of Ohio, "League of Women Voters v. Ohio Redistricting Commission," accessed September 11, 2024
