Ohio’s 2026 election: every statewide office is open, and a Senate seat is on the ballot
Governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor and treasurer are all open seats. The May 5 primary sets the matchups.
Ohio voters will fill an unusual number of open offices in 2026. Term limits mean none of the five statewide executive officeholders elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022 can run again for the same job.
The open seats
Gov. Mike DeWine, Attorney General Dave Yost, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber and Treasurer Robert Sprague are all term-limited. That means new names in every statewide executive office in January 2027. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run together as a ticket.
We have profiled several people in these races, including Vivek Ramaswamy and Amy Acton, and the outgoing officials Yost and LaRose.
The Senate seat
A special election will decide who serves the rest of the Senate term that JD Vance left when he became vice president. Jon Husted was appointed to the seat in January 2025, as we covered in our story on his appointment. The winner in November 2026 serves through 2028.
Congress and the legislature
All 15 of Ohio’s U.S. House seats are on the ballot, including the seats held by Bob Latta and Jim Jordan. All 99 Ohio House seats and half of the 33 Ohio Senate seats are up, along with seats on the Ohio Supreme Court.
Key dates
The primary is Tuesday, May 5, 2026, and the general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voter registration closes 30 days before each election. Early voting is available at each county board of elections, and absentee ballots can be requested by mail. Check registration and deadlines at the secretary of state’s voter page. Bellevue voters should note that their county board depends on their address, as our four-county explainer shows. More in News.