Beat Down
To say that Democrats in Ohio are “beaten down”, is to understate the problem. For most of my lifetime, Democrats had an uphill struggle to win office in Ohio, but still managed to maintain a foothold in State government. Sure there was Jim Rhoades, a Republican who dominated the state for sixteen years. But there was Democrat John Gilligan in the middle, and Dick Celeste after that took us into the 1990’s. Since then though, there’s been only one Democrat as Governor, Ted Strickland for four years, gone in 2010.
But we had Democratic Senators, from Howard Metzenbaum to John Glenn and Sherrod Brown, who proudly represented Ohio for over half a century. Sherrod was the last of those, losing to car dealer Bernie Moreno in 2024. And now, Jennifer Brunner, one of seven Ohio Supreme Court Justices, is the only statewide elected Democrat. The State Legislature is gerrymandered to a failsafe majority for Republicans, and the remaining Dems are left to make deals with “sides” of the Republican extremists.
Up For Grabs
In 2026, there are two high-profile statewide offices up for grabs. The current Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, is term-limited out of office. And the Senate seat of JD Vance, now Vice President, was filled by appointing former Lieutenant Governor John Husted. There will be an election for the position. It’s a big deal, both for Republicans trying to cement MAGA-Republican sovereignty in the Buckeye State, and for the 45% of unrepresented Democrats still living on Ohio.
And 2026 nationally may be a good year for Democrats. Traditionally, the off-year election is good for the party not in power. Republicans are making a mess of their control of the Presidency, the House and the Senate. So Democrats ought to take heart, even those who happen to live in Crimson Ohio.
Billionaire Cincinnati-born financier Vivek Ramaswamy is running for the Republican candidacy for Governor. He not only has an unlimited bank account, but also the direct support of President Trump, who made a major difference in the JD Vance Senate race in 2022. Vivek managed to chase other Republicans, notably Attorney General Dave Yost, out of the race already.
Appointed Senator John Husted is certainly hoping to hold onto his seat, but other Republicans might look to challenge him in a primary, rather than face Ramaswamy in the Gubernatorial contest. But Husted will likely prevail, setting the Republican side for the two high offices. So what will Democrats do?
Hamlets
There are two “princes” of the Democratic Party waiting in the wings. Both are statewide “names”, who have a huge head start in any political contest. And both are “interested” in running again, but also suffered the sting of recent failure.
Sherrod Brown wasn’t ready to leave the Senate in 2024, and the Husted seat in an off-year election seems like a perfect opportunity. And former-Congressman Tim Ryan suffered a tough loss to Vance in 2022. Though Ryan seemed to run the “perfect campaign”, the National Democratic Party pulled a lot of his funding and the rug out from under his campaign in the final weeks. That left him without the weapons to “close the deal” against Vance.
And both Brown and Ryan are concerned that the Democratic Party “image” plays against their needs here in Ohio. Brown got hammered in 2024 by a Republican effort to tie Democrats to transgendered women (preying on “real” women). Ryan watched that, and also Brown’s inability to match Republican spending dollar for dollar as the 2024 campaign closed.
Dignity of Work
Brown and Ryan share a common theme: the dignity of work. They are both concerned that Democrats are too tied to “wedge issues” like gender and migration, instead of focusing on the needs of working folks. As Brown often says: “It doesn’t matter whether you shower before work or after, your work has value”.
I suspect both are waiting for assurances from the National Democratic Party of two things. First, to succeed in Ohio, both need an alignment of issues between Ohio and the Nation. Ohio needs a Democratic National Committee commitment to make the “value of work” the center of the 2026 campaign. Any other path, and Republicans will use a differing national debate to “change the subject” here, and clobber Democratic candidates.
And, Brown and Ryan won’t be left “holding the bag” again. Any successful campaign in the state will cost millions, and certainly a battle against Ramaswamy will be even more expensive. These two Democrats aren’t willing to run for office for “a future race”, or to act as a placeholder. They will only run to win. And they need to have the assurance that winning is possible in Crimson Ohio. It take more than great campaign themes. It requires a national commitment of Democratic funds and ideas.
