Ohio US Senate (special) 2026
Election day is November 3, 2026. A special election to fill a vacant Ohio Senate seat.
Who is favoured in Ohio US Senate (special)?
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What the Ohio US Senate (special) election decides
The Senate confirms federal judges and cabinet officers, ratifies treaties, and can stop legislation the House passes. With a six-year term and a hundred-member chamber, a single seat is a larger share of the institution than any House district, which is why Senate races draw national money into state contests.
Each state sends two senators regardless of population, so this seat carries the same weight as California's or Wyoming's. Ohio voters fill it alongside all 15 of the state's House seats and the governorship, and a Senate term runs six years, spanning two future Congresses and, in this case, the next presidential election. Because this is a special election, the winner serves only the remainder of the unexpired term.
How Ohio votes
Ohio, long the archetypal bellwether, has trended Republican while retaining fierce competition in its statewide races. Manufacturing, energy and the fortunes of its mid-sized cities remain the spine of its politics. That backdrop is the ground any Ohio campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.
About this race
The 2026 United States Senate special election in Ohio was held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Ohio. Democratic former senator Sherrod Brown defeated Republican appointee Jon Husted. He will complete the term won in 2022 by JD Vance, who resigned in 2025 to become vice president.
Seeking to keep the seat after his appointment, Husted ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Brown, who represented Ohio in the Senate for three terms until his defeat in 2024, won the Democratic nomination against minimal opposition.
With Brown's victory in the general election, he became the first person to be elected back to the Senate after previously being defeated for re-election since Washington Republican Slade Gorton in 1988.
Latest coverage of the Ohio US Senate (special) race
Ohio 2026 Election ResultsOhio's 2026 Senate race: What to know about Sherrod Brown vs Jon HustedOhio U.S. Senate Election 2026: Latest PollsSherrod Brown flips Senate seat in Ohio for Democrats by ousting Sen. Jon HustedOhio 2026 election guide: What voters need to know about their ballotsCan this Ohio Democrat win back working-class voters?Democrat Sherrod Brown unseats Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, completing comeback bidThe rest of the Ohio ballot
Every Ohio House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Ohio state page.
Other 2026 races in Ohio
Analysis covering Ohio
Twenty-six states elect a senator and a governor on the same day in 2026
The overlap between the Senate class and the gubernatorial cohort is a coincidence of two unrelated calendars, and it decides where money goes.
The 2026 Senate map covers 62% of the country and 70% of the states
Thirty-five of fifty states vote for Senate this year. Weighted by people rather than states the share drops, and that gap is the design of the chamber.