Democratsā victories Tuesday extended beyond their marquee wins in the Ohio governor and U.S. Senate races.
Preliminary election results, as of about 9 a.m. Wednesday, indicated Democrats won back the secretary of stateās office and the treasurer’s office, held onto one Supreme Court seat and flipped another.
The prime-time wins by Governor-elect Amy Acton and U.S. Senator-elect Sherrod Brown on Tuesday night ā combined with significant Democratic gains in the Ohio House and Senate ā have given the party a level of political power that was unthinkable just a few years ago.Ā
Democrat John Kulewicz wins attorney general race
Early Wednesday morning, Keith Faber, the current state auditor and a former Ohio Senate president with a long track record of political success, conceded defeat to Democratic Attorney General-elect John Kulewicz, a first-time candidate for statewide office.
āTo my fellow Democrats, thank you for recognizing with me that the people of Ohio have given us not a victory but a responsibility,ā Kulewicz said in a statement. āIt is a responsibility to focus like never before on the common good and, through our system of law, make the economy and the government work better for everyone in Ohio.”
Kulewicz is the first Democrat to win the office since Richard Cordray in 2008.
Since 2023, Democratic Supreme Court candidates had been ousted, one by one, as new rules required them to run with party labels next to their names on the ballot. Ā
Democrats hold Ohio Supreme Court seat, pick up another
Despite the change, Marilyn Zayas, an appellate judge, beat incumbent Justice Dan Hawkins by about two percentage points, according to the latest election results. Justice Jennifer Brunner, an incumbent Democrat on the court, managed to hold on as well. In 2022, she lost the statewide race for the chief justice seat by double digits but kept her associate justice seat with a term that ends this year.
āIt was a tossup. The energy felt good out there. I know what it feels like to lose, and I didnāt feel like I was losing. But this is Ohio,ā Brunner said in an interview early Wednesday morning as votes were being counted.
Democrats now occupy two of the seven seats on the bench dominated by Republicans. While it wonāt likely shift court opinions, it defied the expectations that Tuesdayās midterm might deliver an all-GOP court.
Allison Russo wins secretary of state race
Most statewide races couldnāt be called until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Among them was the race for Ohio secretary of state. In that race, Democrat Allison Russo, a state lawmaker, was leading decisively enough to draw a concession speech from Robert Sprague, the incumbent state treasurer, before 11 p.m.
āA lot of it is hard work, but itās also timing and the moment,ā Russo said in an interview late Tuesday. āThere is real frustration in this state with what has been going on for the better part of two decades. People are feeling a lot of pain from the affordability crisis.ā
Democrat Seth Walsh wins state treasurer’s race
Democratic Cincinnati City Council Member Seth Walsh currently leads Jay Edwards, a GOP former state lawmaker, by about 50,000 votes, or about 1 percentage point.
Edwards, a Republican former state lawmaker, conceded defeat Wednesday in the state treasurer’s race. He noted that he outperformed the top of the ticket by 7 points.
Republicans held the state auditorās office, which Faber vacated. Frank LaRose, currently the Secretary of State, defeated Democrat Annette Blackwell for the auditor position.
This article was updated to reflect Jay Edwards’ concession.