Ramaswamy has secured trade union endorsements including the Ohio Teamsters Union and the Central Regional Council of Carpenters. President Donald Trump and the Center for Christian Virtue’s president have also endorsed Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2024.

Ramaswamy has secured trade union endorsements including the Ohio Teamsters Union and the Central Regional Council of Carpenters. President Donald Trump and the Center for Christian Virtue’s president have also endorsed Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2024.

The Nov. 3, 2026 election will be the first major referendum on President Donald Trump's second term. At the state level, Ohioans will see a shakeup in leadership with the departure of Gov. Mike DeWine as other term-limited officials pursue new jobs.

Next year’s political news, in Ohio and across the country, is likely to revolve around the 2026 Midterm Elections. State leaders have made some big changes to how Ohioans will vote in the Midterms and how elections are run and secured.

Ohio is changing the rules for absentee voting ahead of the 2026 election. Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation on Dec. 19 to eliminate the grace period for mailed absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day. The move came as the Trump administration targets mail-in voting and the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear a case over ballot deadlines.

Ohio voters will decide a pivotal U.S. Senate race this year as Republican Sen. Jon Husted seeks to keep the seat he was appointed to fill and Democrat Sherrod Brown

As of Jan. 1, the Ohio Elections Commission hands the reins to the Ohio Election Integrity Commission. The board’s membership shrinks from seven to five, and instead of a bipartisan panel selecting a nonpartisan colleague, all commissioners will be chosen by state leaders.

Ohio will launch a new Election Integrity Commission Jan. 1 to police election issues and seek fines and make criminal referrals for violations such as ballot harvesting, petition fraud and voter registration fraud.

Ohio Secretary of State's office reports 1,200 election fraud cases referred and record business registrations in 2025.