Ohio State Senate elections, 2026
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| 2026 Ohio Senate Election |
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Party control |
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Elections for the Ohio State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is May 5, 2026. The filing deadline is February 4, 2026.
The Ohio State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.
Party control
| As of December 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Members | |
| Democratic | 9 | |
| Republican | 24 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | |
Candidates
Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:
- Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
- Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies
Primary
Ohio State Senate primary 2026 |
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| Office |  Democratic |
 Republican |
Other |
| District 1 |
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| District 3 | |||
| District 5 |
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| District 7 |
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| District 9 | |||
| District 11 | |||
| District 13 |
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| District 15 | |||
| District 17 | |||
| District 19 | |||
| District 21 | |||
| District 23 | |||
| District 25 | |||
| District 27 |
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| District 29 | |||
| District 31 | |||
| District 33 | |||
General election
Ohio State Senate general election 2026 |
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| Office | Democratic |
Republican |
Other |
| District 1 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 3 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 5 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 7 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 9 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 11 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 13 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 15 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 17 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 19 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 21 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 23 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 25 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 27 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 29 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 31 | Primary results pending | ||
| District 33 | Primary results pending | ||
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Ohio
Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.
Competitiveness
This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Ohio. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.
Open seats
The table below shows the number and percentage of open seats in the Ohio Senate from 2010 to 2026.[1] It will be updated as information becomes available following the state’s candidate filing deadline.
| Open Seats in Ohio State Senate elections: 2010 - 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total seats | Open seats | Seats with incumbents running for re-election |
| 2026 | 17 | TBD | TBD |
| 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) |
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:[2]
| 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).[3]
| 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.[3] | |
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).[4]
| 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.[5]
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, 2025[6] | |
|---|---|
| Salary | Per diem |
| $72,343/year | No per diem is paid during session. |
When sworn in
Ohio legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.[7][8]
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: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Twenty-seven 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 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | 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 | R |
Presidential politics in Ohio
2024
- See also: Presidential election, 2024
Presidential election in Ohio, 2024
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
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| ✔ |
 
| Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R) |
55.1
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3,180,116 | 17 |
 
| Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D) |
43.9
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2,533,699 | 0 | |
 
| Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L) |
0.5
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28,200 | 0 | |
 
| Richard Duncan/Mitchell Preston Bupp (Independent) |
0.2
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12,805 | 0 | |
 
| Peter Sonski/Lauren Onak (Independent) |
0.2
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10,197 | 0 | |
 
| Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
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1,794 | 0 | |
 
| Cornel West/Melina Abdullah (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
|
852 | 0 | |
 
| Shiva Ayyadurai/Crystal Ellis (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
|
74 | 0 | |
| John Cheng/Wayne Waligorski (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
|
24 | 0 | |
| Christopher Garrity/Cody Ballard (Independent) |
0.0
|
13 | 0 | |
 
| Jay Bowman/De Bowman (Independent) |
0.0
|
7 | 0 | |
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| Brian Kienitz/Christina Marie Johnston (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
|
4 | 0 | |
| William Cody Nalbach/Willis Butts (Independent) (Write-in) |
0.0
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3 | 0 | |
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Total votes: 5,767,788 |
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.[9]
On September 26, 2023, the Ohio Redistricting Commission voted 6-0 (with one member absent) to adopt new state legislative maps.[10][11] 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.[12]
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.[13] 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.[14]
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."[15]
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 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
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 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, "2025 Legislator Compensation," December 2, 2025
- ↑ 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
