After Bitter Defeats Last Year, Ohio Democrats Are Biding Time As Gop Moves Full Swing Into 2026

The first television ads dropped this week in the Ohio governor's race that's still more than a year off. The early onslaught by a super PAC allied with Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy drove home how quickly the former bellwether state 's ruling Republicans are seizing the spotlight and staking claims to five statewide executive offices that are opening in 2026.

All that urgency begs a question: Where are Ohio Democrats?

Fresh off a pair of difficult losses last year - the bitter defeat of three-term U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown to Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, and the rejection by voters of the anti-gerrymandering amendment known as Issue 1 - the party's efforts at building anything close to a winning 2026 ticket have so far been muted, and for some, moving too slowly.

Dr. Amy Acton, the former state health director who helped guide Ohio through the early days of the pandemic, is running for governor as a Democrat - methodically building financial support and a statewide campaign. Though she gained recognition appearing on daily COVID-19 briefings that aired statewide in early 2020, Acton also is a newcomer to politics who lacks the political might of someone like Brown, who before last year had reliably won statewide victories going back decades.

Meanwhile, only two other Democrats - southwest Ohio oncologist and first-time candidate Brian Hambley for secretary of state, and tainted former state Rep. Elliot Forhan for attorney general - have launched campaigns.