2020 Ohio elections

Ohio elections, 2020

←  2018 November 3, 2020 2022  →

The 2020 Ohio general elections were held on November 3, 2020 throughout the US state of Ohio. The office of the Ohio Secretary of State oversees the election process, including voting and vote counting. ^[1]

To vote by mail, registered Ohio voters must have requested a ballot by October 31, 2020. ^[2] As of early October some 2,112,685 voters have requested mail ballots. ^[3]

Federal offices

President

Main article: 2020 United States presidential election in Ohio

Trump won 53.3% compared to Biden's 45.2%

Senate

There is no U.S. Senate election in Ohio in 2020. Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown was elected in 2018, and incumbent Republican Senator Rob Portman retired and was replaced by Republican J.D. Vance in 2022.

House of Representatives

Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio

All of Ohio's 16 seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2020. Ohio's delegation to the United States House of Representatives remained at 12 Republicans and 4 Democrats.

State offices

Board of education

6 of Ohio's 19 Board of Education Seats were up in 2020.

Board of Education District	Incumbent	Member Elected
1	Linda Haycock	Diana Fessler
5	Lisa Woods	Christina Collins
6	Antioniette Miranda	Antioniette Miranda
9	Stephaine Dodd	Michelle Newman
10	Nick Owens	Brendan Shea
11	Meryl Johnson	Meryl Johnson

General Assembly

Senate

Main article: 2020 Ohio Senate election

The 16 even-numbered districts out of 33 seats in the Ohio Senate are up for election in 2020. Fourteen of these seats are held by Republicans and two are held by Democrats. Prior to the election, Republicans hold 24 seats and Democrats hold 9 seats.

Senatorial district	Incumbent			This race
District	Senator	Party	First elected	Incumbent Status	Candidates
2	Theresa Gavarone	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running	Theresa Gavarone (R) Joel O'Dorisio (D)
4	Bill Coley	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)	George Lang (R) Kathy Wyenandt (D) Kent Keller (I)
6	Peggy Lehner	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)	Niraj Antani (R) Mark Fogel (D)
8	Louis Blessing	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running	Louis Blessing (R) Daniel Brown (D)
10	Bob Hackett	Republican	2016 (Appointed)	Running	Bob Hackett (R) Charles Ballard (D)
12	Matt Huffman	Republican	2016	Running	Matt Huffman (R) Ken Poling (D)
14	Terry Johnson	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running	Terry Johnson (R) Ryan Ottney (D)
16	Stephanie Kunze	Republican	2016	Running	Stephanie Kunze (R) Crystal Lett (D)
18	John Eklund	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)	Jerry Cirino (R) Besty Rader (D)
20	Tim Schaffer	Republican	2018 (Appointed)	Running	Tim Schaffer (R) Christian Johnson (D)
22	Larry Obhof	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)	Mark Romanchuk (R) Ryan Hunger (D)
24	Matt Dolan	Republican	2016	Running	Matt Dolan (R) Tom Jackson (D)
26	David Burke	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)	Bill Reineke (R) Craig Swartz (D) Robert Taylor (I)
28	Vernon Sykes	Democratic	2016	Running	Vernon Sykes (D) Micheal Downey (R)
30	Frank Hoagland	Republican	2016	Running	Frank Hoagland (R) Micheal Fletcher (D)
32	Sean O'Brien	Democratic	2016	Running	Sandra O'Brien (R) Sean O'Brien (D) (i)

House of Representatives

Main article: 2020 Ohio House of Representatives election

All 99 seats in the Ohio House of Representatives are up for election in 2020. Prior to the election, Republicans hold 61 seats and Democrats hold 38 seats.

House district	Incumbent			This race
District	Representative	Party	First elected	Incumbent Status	Candidates
1	Scott Wiggam	Republican	2016	Running
2	Mark Romanchuk	Republican	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
3	Haraz Ghanbari	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
4	Robert R. Cupp	Republican	2014	Running
5	Tim Ginter	Republican	2014	Running
6	Phil Robinson	Democratic	2018	Running
7	Tom Patton	Republican	2016	Running
8	Kent Smith	Democratic	2014	Running
9	Janine Boyd	Democratic	2014	Running
10	Terrence Upchurch	Democratic	2018	Running
11	Stephanie Howse	Democratic	2014	Running
12	Juanita Brent	Democratic	2018	Running
13	Michael J. Skindell	Democratic	2018	Running
14	Bride Rose Sweeney	Democratic	2018	Running
15	Jeffrey Crossman	Democratic	2018	Running
16	David Greenspan	Republican	2016	Running
17	Adam Miller	Democratic	2016	Running
18	Kristin Boggs	Democratic	2016 (Appointed)	Running
19	Mary Lightbody	Democratic	2018	Running
20	Richard Brown	Democratic	2017 (Appointed)	Running
21	Beth Liston	Democratic	2018	Running
22	David J. Leland	Democratic	2014	Running
23	Laura Lanese	Republican	2016	Running
24	Allison Russo	Democratic	2018	Running
25	Bernadine Kent	Democratic	2016	Not Running
26	Erica Crawley	Democratic	2018	Running
27	Tom Brinkman	Republican	2014	Running
28	Jessica Miranda	Democratic	2018	Running
29	Cindy Abrams	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
30	Bill Seitz	Republican	2016	Running
31	Brigid Kelly	Democratic	2016	Running
32	Catherine Ingram	Democratic	2016	Running
33	Sedrick Denson	Democratic	2018	Running
34	Emilia Sykes	Democratic	2014	Running
35	Tavia Galonski	Democratic	2017 (Appointed)	Running
36	Anthony DeVitis	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)
37	Casey Weinstein	Democratic	2018	Running
38	Bill Roemer	Republican	2018	Running
39	Fred Strahorn	Democratic	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
40	Phil Plummer	Republican	2018	Running
41	Jim Butler	Republican	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)
42	Niraj Antani	Republican	2014 (appointed)	Not running (running for state senator) [4]
43	Jeffery Todd Smith	Republican	2018	Running
44	Paula Hicks-Hudson	Democratic	2018	Running
45	Lisa Sobecki	Democratic	2018	Running
46	Michael Sheehy	Democratic	2013 (Appointed)	Running
47	Derek Merrin	Republican	2016 (Appointed)	Running
48	Scott Oelslager	Republican	2018	Running
49	Thomas West	Democratic	2016	Running
50	Reggie Stoltzfus	Republican	2018	Running
51	Sara Carruthers	Republican	2018	Running
52	George Lang	Republican	2017 (appointed)	Not running (running for state senator) [5]
53	Candice Keller	Republican	2016 (appointed)	Not running (running for state senator) [6]
54	Paul Zeltwanger	Republican	2014	Running
55	Gayle Manning	Republican	2018	Running
56	Joe Miller	Democratic	2018	Running
57	Dick Stein	Republican	2016	Running
58	Michele Lepore-Hagan	Democratic	2014	Running
59	Don Manning	Republican	2018	Not Running (Deceased)
60	John Rogers	Democratic	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
61	Jamie Callender	Republican	2018	Running
62	Scott Lipps	Republican	2016	Running
63	Gil Blair	Democratic	2019 (Appointed)	Running
64	Michael O'Brien	Democratic	2014	Running
65	John Becker	Republican	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
66	Doug Green	Republican	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
67	Kris Jordan	Republican	2018	Running
68	Rick Carfagna	Republican	2016	Running
69	Steve Hambley	Republican	2014	Not running (running for Medina County Commissioner) [7]
70	Darrell Kick	Republican	2016	Running
71	Mark Fraizer	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
72	Larry Householder	Republican	2016	Running
73	Rick Perales	Republican	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
74	Bill Dean	Republican	2016 (Appointed)	Running
75	Randi Clites	Democratic	2018	Running
76	Diane Grendell	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
77	Jeffrey LaRe	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
78	Ron Hood	Republican	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)
79	Kyle Koehler	Republican	2014	Running
80	Jena Powell	Republican	2018	Running
81	Jim Hoops	Republican	2018 (Appointed)	Running
82	Craig Riedel	Republican	2016	Running
83	Jon Cross	Republican	2018	Running
84	Susan Manchester	Republican	2018	Running
85	Nino Vitale	Republican	2014	Running
86	Tracy Richardson	Republican	2018	Running
87	Riordan McClain	Republican	2018 (Appointed)	Running
88	Bill Reineke	Republican	2014	Not running (running for state senator) [8]
89	D. J. Swearingen	Republican	2019 (Appointed)	Running
90	Brian Baldridge	Republican	2018	Running
91	Shane Wilkin	Republican	2018 (Appointed)	Running
92	Gary Scherer	Republican	2012 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)
93	Jason Stephens	Republican	2018	Running
94	Jay Edwards	Republican	2016	Running
95	Don Jones	Republican	2018	Running
96	Jack Cera	Democratic	2011 (Appointed)	Not Running (Term-limited)
97	Adam Holmes	Republican	2018	Running
98	Brett Hillyer	Republican	2018	Running
99	John Patterson	Democratic	2012	Not Running (Term-limited)

Supreme Court

2020 Ohio Supreme Court elections

←  2018 November 3, 2020 (2020-11-03) 2022  →
2 seats of the Supreme Court of Ohio
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Last election 5 2 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 1

Further information: Ohio Supreme Court elections

While judicial races in Ohio are technically non-partisan (party affiliations are not listed on the ballot), candidates run in party primaries. Terms are six years, and justices may run for re-election an unlimited number of times before their 70th birthday.

Associate Justice (Term commencing 01/01/2021)

2020 Ohio Supreme Court election (Kennedy seat)

←  2014 November 3, 2020 2024  →

Nominee Sharon Kennedy John O'Donnell Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Alliance Republican Democratic Popular vote 2,735,041 2,231,724 Percentage 55.1% 44.9%

County results French:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% O'Donnell:     50–60%

Justice before election Sharon Kennedy Republican Elected Justice Sharon Kennedy Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

• Sharon Kennedy, incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio ^[9]

Results

Republican primary results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Sharon Kennedy (incumbent)	637,255	100.0%
Total votes			637,255	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John O'Donnell, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, General Division judge and candidate for Ohio Supreme Court in 2014 and 2016 ^[11]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John O'Donnell	659,196	100.0%
Total votes			659,196	100.0%

General election

Results

2020 Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice (Term commencing 01/01/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Sharon Kennedy (incumbent)	2,735,041	55.07%
	Nonpartisan	John O'Donnell	2,231,724	44.93%
Total votes			4,966,765	100.0%
	Republican hold

Associate Justice (Term commencing 01/02/2021)

Republican primary

Candidates

• Judith French, incumbent Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio ^[12]

Results

Republican primary results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Judith French (incumbent)	618,739	100.0%
Total votes			618,739	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jennifer Brunner, incumbent Judge of the Ohio Court of Appeals for the 10th District and former Ohio Secretary of State (2007–2011) ^[13]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jennifer Brunner	675,231	100.0%
Total votes			675,231	100.0%

General election

2020 Ohio Supreme Court election (French seat)

←  2014 November 3, 2020 2026  →

Nominee Jennifer Brunner Judith French Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,695,072 2,174,820 Percentage 55.34% 44.66%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Brunner:     50–60%     60-70%     70–80% French:     50–60%     60–70%

Justice before election Judith French Republican Elected Justice Jennifer Brunner Democratic

Results

2020 Ohio Supreme Court Associate Justice (Term commencing 01/02/2021) election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Jennifer Brunner	2,695,072	55.34%
	Nonpartisan	Judi French (incumbent)	2,174,820	44.66%
Total votes			4,869,892	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

This was the last time that Ohio elected a Democrat for a statewide office.

Court of Appeals

District 1

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 1st District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Ginger Bock	204,998	56.07%
	Nonpartisan	Russell J. Mock (incumbent)	160,641	43.93%
Total votes			365,639	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 2

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 2nd District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Chris Epley	232,026	54.37%
	Nonpartisan	Marshall G. Lachman	194,737	45.63%
Total votes			426,763	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 3

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 3rd District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Mark C. Miller	286,971	100.0%
Total votes			286,971	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 4

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 4th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Peter B. Abele (incumbent)	182,359	100.0%
Total votes			182,359	100.0%
	Republican hold

Unexpired term ending 02/08/2023

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 4th District (Unexpired term ending 02/08/2023) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Kristy Wilkin (incumbent)	115,387	52.81%
	Nonpartisan	Stacy Brooks	103,115	47.19%
Total votes			218,502	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 5

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 5th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	William B. Hoffman (incumbent)	361,543	61.36%
	Nonpartisan	Jeff Furr	227,675	38.64%
Total votes			589,218	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 6

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 6th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Thomas J. Osowik (incumbent)	283,659	100.0%
Total votes			283,659	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Term commencing 02/10/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 6th District (Term commencing 02/10/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Myron C. Duhart	173,244	52.60%
	Nonpartisan	Charles Sulek	156,128	47.40%
Total votes			329,372	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 7

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 7th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Carol Ann Robb (incumbent)	180,449	100.0%
Total votes			180,449	100.0%
	Republican hold

Term commencing 02/10/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 7th District (Term commencing 02/10/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Cheryl L. Waite (incumbent)	170,104	100.0%
Total votes			170,104	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 8

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 8th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Sean C. Gallagher (incumbent)	356,192	100.0%
Total votes			356,192	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Term commencing 02/10/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 8th District (Term commencing 02/10/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Larry A. Jones (incumbent)	341,649	100.0%
Total votes			341,649	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Term commencing 02/11/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 8th District (Term commencing 02/11/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Emanuella D. Groves	268,276	57.73%
	Nonpartisan	Pamela A. Hawkins	196,405	42.27%
Total votes			464,681	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Term commencing 02/12/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 8th District (Term commencing 02/12/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Anita Laster Mays (incumbent)	324,766	100.0%
Total votes			324,766	100.0%
	Democratic hold

Unexpired Term ending 01/01/2023

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 8th District (Unexpired Term ending 01/01/2023) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Lisa Forbes	326,112	71.02%
	Nonpartisan	Ray Headen (incumbent)	133,072	28.98%
Total votes			459,184	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 9

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 9th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Betty Sutton	271,875	54.07%
	Nonpartisan	Julie A. Schafer (incumbent)	230,938	45.93%
Total votes			502,783	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 10

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 10th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Michael C. Mentel	270,776	51.51%
	Nonpartisan	Colleen O'Donnell	254,900	48.49%
Total votes			525,676	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Term commencing 07/01/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 10th District (Term commencing 07/01/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Terri Jamison	275,213	53.33%
	Nonpartisan	Lisa L. Sadler (incumbent)	240,837	46.67%
Total votes			516,050	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 11

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 11th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Matt Lynch (incumbent)	186,845	55.54%
	Nonpartisan	Timothy P. Cannon (incumbent)	149,577	44.46%
Total votes			336,422	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Term commencing 02/10/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 11th District (Term commencing 02/10/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Cynthia Westcott Rice (incumbent)	166,310	51.05%
	Nonpartisan	Sarah Thomas Kovoor	159,486	48.95%
Total votes			325,796	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 12

Term commencing 01/01/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 12th District (Term commencing 01/01/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Matthew Byrne	350,206	100.0%
Total votes			350,206	100.0%
	Republican hold

Term commencing 02/09/2021

2020 Ohio Court of Appeals 12th District (Term commencing 02/09/2021) election ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Robert A. Hendrickson (incumbent)	347,575	100.0%
Total votes			347,575	100.0%
	Republican hold

See also

• Postal voting in the United States, 2020 ^[14]
• Elections in Ohio
• Political party strength in Ohio

References

1. Dionne Searcey (October 1, 2020), "When Your Job Is to Make Sure Nov. 3 Isn't a Disaster", Nytimes.com
2. Lily Hay Newman (August 27, 2020), "How to Vote by Mail and Make Sure It Counts", Wired.com , archived from the original on October 6, 2020
3. Michael P. McDonald, "2020 General Election Early Vote Statistics", U.S. Elections Project, retrieved October 10, 2020, Detailed state statistics
4. Blizzard, Nick; Otte, Jim (January 30, 2019). "State Rep. Antani to run for state Senate seat covering most of suburban Montgomery County". Dayton Daily News . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
5. Pitman, Michael D. (July 15, 2019). "Lang to run for Ohio Senate, creating three-way race in Republican primary". Journal-News . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
6. Balmert, Jessie (May 29, 2019). "Election 2020: Conservative Rep. Candice Keller to run for Butler County Senate seat". The Cincinnati Enquirer . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
7. Pelzer, Jeremy (July 16, 2019). "State Rep. Steve Hambley to challenge longtime Medina County Commissioner Pat Geissman in 2020". The Plain Dealer . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
8. Jackson, Tom (April 8, 2019). "Reineke to run for Ohio Senate". The Sandusky Register . Retrieved March 15, 2020.
9. "Press Release: Justice Kennedy Files for Re-Election to the Ohio Supreme Court". Ohio Republican Party .
10. "2020 OFFICIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS". Ohio Secretary of State.
11. Bischoff, Laura A. (September 20, 2020). "O'Donnell makes third run for Ohio Supreme Court". Dayton Daily News .
12. "2020 Candidate for Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court: Judith L. French". WKBN . September 16, 2020.
13. "Ex-Ohio elections chief Brunner seeks seat on high court". Associated Press . August 20, 2019.
14. Brent Kendall; Alexa Corse (October 11, 2020), "Pennsylvania, Texas and Ohio See Court Rulings Over Mail Ballots", The Wall Street Journal , Both political parties are mounting legal challenges across many states, with mail-in voting at the center

Further reading

• David Weigel; Lauren Tierney (September 22, 2020), "The 50 political states of America", Washingtonpost.com , archived from the original on October 11, 2020, Ohio
• Reid J. Epstein (October 16, 2020), "In Ohio, a Printing Company Is Overwhelmed and Mail Ballots Are Delayed", The New York Times

External links

• "League of Women Voters of Ohio". (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Ohio at Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Ohio", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Ohio: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org , Oakland, CA
• "Ohio 2019 & 2020 Elections", OpenSecrets
• "Voting in Ohio", Voting Information by State, Rock the Vote . ("Deadlines, dates, requirements, registration options and information on how to vote in your state")