Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown was projected to win the Ohio Democratic primary election on Tuesday, according to media reports, setting up what is expected to be a competitive race with incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted. Brown's bid to win back the seat he held until his 2024 reelection defeat is one of a handful of U.S. Senate races this year that will help to determine whether Democrats topple Republicans' Senate majority in November's midterm elections. Brown was easily outpacing his Democratic primary opponent, Ron Kincaid, a Special Olympics coach and grants officer for charitable organizations. Brown was winning 92.5 per cent of the vote with 1 per cent of ballots counted. Husted was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Ohio has trended steadily Republican over the past decade, making Brown's comeback bid - after a 2024 loss - a test of how far President Donald Trump's declining popularity is reshaping the 2026 midterm map.
Democrats, who entered the 2026 midterm cycle facing long odds of retaking the Senate, now see an increasingly competitive landscape as voters sour on inflation, the war with Iran and other flashpoints of Trump's presidency. Brown, 73, lost his 2024 reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer who capitalized on blue-collar workers fleeing the Democratic Party and who was endorsed by Trump. Husted, 58, was appointed to the seat in January 2025 when then-Senator JD Vance became vice president.
The November special election will fill the remaining two years of Vance's term. Ohio also will be electing a governor to replace term-limited Republican Mike DeWine. Former U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was projected to win the Republican primary, according to media reports. He is a former CEO of a biotechnology company and briefly held a job in the Trump administration's "Department of Government Efficiency", which looked for ways to shrink the federal workforce.
Trump is also playing a role in primary elections for the state legislature in Indiana. He is backing opponents of some incumbent lawmakers who blocked a redistricting effort he had sought in order to redraw U.S. House district lines to favor Republican candidates.
The Husted-Brown race is seen as a toss-up by some analysts and a competitive race in recent opinion polls, in striking contrast to Trump's 2024 romp in Ohio, where he beat Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by 11 percentage points.
The Midwestern state, hit hard in recent decades by massive job losses in the steel and automotive industries, is one of four states Democrats plan to pour resources into for a shot at ending Republicans' 53-47 seat control of the Senate.
Ohio has trended steadily Republican over the past decade, making Brown's comeback bid - after a 2024 loss - a test of how far President Donald Trump's declining popularity is reshaping the 2026 midterm map.
Democrats, who entered the 2026 midterm cycle facing long odds of retaking the Senate, now see an increasingly competitive landscape as voters sour on inflation, the war with Iran and other flashpoints of Trump's presidency. Brown, 73, lost his 2024 reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer who capitalized on blue-collar workers fleeing the Democratic Party and who was endorsed by Trump. Husted, 58, was appointed to the seat in January 2025 when then-Senator JD Vance became vice president.
The November special election will fill the remaining two years of Vance's term. Ohio also will be electing a governor to replace term-limited Republican Mike DeWine. Former U.S. presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was projected to win the Republican primary, according to media reports. He is a former CEO of a biotechnology company and briefly held a job in the Trump administration's "Department of Government Efficiency", which looked for ways to shrink the federal workforce.
Trump is also playing a role in primary elections for the state legislature in Indiana. He is backing opponents of some incumbent lawmakers who blocked a redistricting effort he had sought in order to redraw U.S. House district lines to favor Republican candidates.
The Husted-Brown race is seen as a toss-up by some analysts and a competitive race in recent opinion polls, in striking contrast to Trump's 2024 romp in Ohio, where he beat Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by 11 percentage points.
The Midwestern state, hit hard in recent decades by massive job losses in the steel and automotive industries, is one of four states Democrats plan to pour resources into for a shot at ending Republicans' 53-47 seat control of the Senate.
