2018 Ohio Secretary of State election

2018 Ohio Secretary of State election

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Registered	8,070,917
Turnout	55.79%
Candidate Frank LaRose Kathleen Clyde Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,214,273 2,052,098 Percentage 50.67% 46.96%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results LaRose:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Clyde:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Tie:     40–50%     No data
Secretary of State before election Jon Husted Republican Elected Secretary of State Frank LaRose Republican

The 2018 Ohio Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Ohio Secretary of State, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, and other state and local elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2018, though both the Republican and Democratic nominees ran uncontested. ^[1]

Incumbent secretary Jon Husted was term-limited and instead was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. ^[2] Republican state senator Frank LaRose defeated Democratic state representative Kathleen Clyde in the general election. ^[3]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Frank LaRose, state senator from the 27th district (2011–present) ^[4]

Withdrawn

• Dorothy Pelanda, state representative from the 86th district (2011–present) (endorsed LaRose) ^{[5] [6]}

Results

Republican primary results ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank LaRose	606,697	100.0%
Total votes			606,197	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kathleen Clyde, state representative from the 75th district (2011–present) ^{[8] [9]}

Primary endorsements

Kathleen Clyde

Organizations

• Pro-Choice Ohio ^[10]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Clyde	514,959	100.0%
Total votes			514,959	100.0%

General election

Endorsements

Frank LaRose (R)

U.S. governors

• Bob Taft, former Governor of Ohio (1999–2007), former Ohio Secretary of State (1991–1999), and state representative from the 65th district (1977–1981) ^[6]

Statewide officials

• Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State (1999–2007), former Treasurer of Ohio (1994–1999), and nominee for governor in 2006 ^[6]

State representatives

• Dorothy Pelanda, state representative from the 86th district (2011–2019) (originally ran against LaRose) ^[6]

Newspapers and other media

• The Columbus Dispatch ^[11]

Organizations

• Buckeye Firearms Association ^[12]
• Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio ^[13]
• Ohio Chamber of Commerce ^[14]
• Ohio Society of CPAS ^[15]

Kathleen Clyde (D)

U.S. presidents

• Barack Obama, President of the United States (2009–2017), U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–2008), and Illinois state senator from the 13th district (1997–2004) ^[16]

Executive branch officials

• Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States (2009–2017) and U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973–2009) ^[17]

U.S. senators

• Sherrod Brown, U.S. Senator from Ohio (2007–present), U.S. representative from OH-13 (1993–2007), former Ohio Secretary of State (1983–1991), and state representative from the 61st district (1975–1983) ^[18]

Labor unions

• International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers ^[19]

Newspapers and other media

• Akron Beacon Journal ^[20]
• The Plain Dealer ^[21]
• The Toledo Blade ^[22]

Organizations

• EMILYs List ^[23]
• Human Rights Campaign ^[24]
• Planned Parenthood Action Fund ^[25]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing [26]	Tossup	October 11, 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size [a]	Margin of error	Frank LaRose (R)	Kathleen Clyde (D)	Undecided
Gravis Marketing [27]	October 29–30, 2018	789 (LV)	± 3.5%	40%	38%	22%
Baldwin Wallace University [28]	October 19–27, 2018	1,051 (LV)	± 3.8%	33%	39%	21%
Suffolk University [b] [29] [30]	October 4–8, 2018	500 (RV)	± 4.4%	33%	42%	19%
Baldwin Wallace University [31]	September 28 – October 8, 2018	1,017 (LV)	± 3.5%	32%	32%	27%
Change Research (D) [c] [32] [33]	August 31 – September 4, 2018	822 (LV)	± 3%	42%	40%	18%
Fallon Research [34]	May 21–25, 2018	800 (V)	± 3.46%	32%	31%	37%
Public Policy Polling (D) [d] [35]	April 25–26, 2018	770 (V)	3.5%	40%	43%	17%

Results

2018 Ohio Secretary of State election ^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank LaRose	2,214,273	50.67%
	Democratic	Kathleen Clyde	2,052,098	46.96%
	Libertarian	Dustin Nanna	103,506	2.37%
	Write-in	Michael Bradley	79	0.00%
Total votes			4,369,956	100.00%
	Republican hold

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
2. Poll sponsored by the Cincinnati Enquirer
3. Poll sponsored by Innovation Ohio
4. Poll sponsored by the Ohio Democratic Party

References

1. "Ohio Primary Election Results". The New York Times. May 9, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
2. Icsman, Marilyn; Couch, Erin (October 5, 2018). "Ohio's Secretary of State race: Here's everything you need to know". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
3. Candisky, Catherine (November 6, 2018). "Ohio Republicans sweep statewide downticket office races". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
4. Evans, Nick (September 28, 2018). "Who's Running For Ohio Secretary Of State, And What Is That Anyway?". WOSU 89.7. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
5. Kilpatrick, Mary (October 16, 2017). "Dorothy Pelanda ends campaign to become Ohio's secretary of state". Cleveland.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
6. "LaRose supported by over 200 republicans" . Record-Courier. November 9, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
7. "2018 Official Elections Results". Ohio Secretary of State. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
8. Rosenberg, Gabe (May 16, 2017). "State Rep. Kathleen Clyde Announces Run For Ohio Secretary Of State". WOSU 89.7. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
9. Molnar, Nancy (August 28, 2018). "Kathleen Clyde meets with Democrats on campaign trail for secretary of state". Times Reporter. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
10. "NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio announces primary election endorsements". Abortion Forward. April 5, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
11. "See the Columbus Dispatch political endorsements for 2018" . The Columbus Dispatch. November 2, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025. Both are well equipped for the job, but we give the endorsement to Republican Frank LaRose over Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde.
12. "BFA PAC Endorses Frank LaRose for Ohio Secretary of State". Buckeye Firearms Association. August 13, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
13. "LaRose Announces FOP Ohio Endorsement". Frank LaRose for Secretary of State. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
14. Wagner Feasel, Julie (August 29, 2018). "Ohio Chamber Backs Yost for Attorney General and LaRose for Secretary of State" (PDF). Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
15. Ryan Kowaleski, Molly (September 13, 2018). "OSCPA announces endorsements for Senate, Secretary of State". OSCPA. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
16. McCammond, Alexi (August 1, 2018). "Meet the 81 candidates Obama is endorsing in 2018". Axios. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
17. "Biden endorses Clyde for Ohio Secretary of State". Record-Courier. June 21, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
18. "Brown endorses Clyde for Secretary of State". Record-Courier. February 26, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
19. "Election 2018 Boilermaker Endorsements". International Brotherhood of Boilermakers. November 5, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
20. "Kathleen Clyde for secretary of state". Akron Beacon Journal. October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
21. "Endorsement roundup for Nov. 6, 2018 election: editorial board". Cleveland.com. October 10, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
22. "The Blade's 2018 midterm endorsements". The Blade. November 6, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
23. "EMILYs List Endorses Kathleen Clyde for Ohio Secretary of State". EMILYs List. October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
24. Metzger, Ianthe (September 6, 2018). "Human Rights Campaign Endorses Kathleen Clyde, Rob Richardson and Zack Space for Ohio State Office". Human Rights Campaign. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
25. "Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio Announces Statewide Endorsed Candidates for 2018". Planned Parenthood. May 9, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
26. Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races" . Retrieved October 20, 2025.
27. Kaplan, Doug (November 1, 2018). "Ohio Polling" (PDF). RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
28. "Ohio 2018 Late October Elections Poll" (PDF). Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute. October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
29. "FINAL October 2018 STUDY" (PDF). Suffolk University. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
30. Borchardt, Jackie (October 11, 2018). "Midterm election poll: As Trump visits Greater Cincinnati, new Enquirer poll shows 4 in 10 Ohio voters open to impeachment". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
31. "Ohio 2018 October Elections Poll" (PDF). Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute. October 8, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
32. "Innovation-Ohio-Change-Research-Survey-Crosstabs-crosstabs.pdf" (PDF). Innovation Ohio. September 6, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
33. "New Poll Shows Tied Gubernatorial Race, Close Races Up and Down the Ballot". Innovation Ohio. September 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 7, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
34. Richardson, Seth (June 1, 2018). "New poll shows Sherrod Brown leading Senate race, Mike DeWine on top in governor's". Cleveland.com. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
35. Williams, Anniken (May 8, 2018). "Democrat Kathleen Clyde Leads Republican Frank LaRose in Ohio Secretary of State Race" (PDF). Public Policy Polling. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 31, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2025.