To say that Democrats in Ohio are \u201cbeaten down\u201d, is to understate the problem.\u00a0For most of my lifetime, Democrats had an uphill struggle to win office in Ohio, but still managed to maintain a foothold in State government.\u00a0\u00a0Sure there was Jim Rhoades, a Republican who dominated the state for sixteen years.\u00a0\u00a0But there was Democrat John Gilligan in the middle, and Dick Celeste after that took us into the 1990\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0Since then though, there\u2019s been only one Democrat as Governor, Ted Strickland for four years, gone in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we had Democratic Senators, from Howard Metzenbaum to John Glenn and Sherrod Brown, who proudly represented Ohio for over half a century.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sherrod 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.\u00a0\u00a0The State Legislature is gerrymandered to a failsafe majority for Republicans, and the remaining Dems are left to make deals with \u201csides\u201d of the Republican extremists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2026, there are two high-profile statewide offices up for grabs.\u00a0\u00a0The current Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, is term-limited out of office.\u00a0\u00a0And the Senate seat of JD Vance, now Vice President, was filled by appointing former Lieutenant Governor John Husted.\u00a0\u00a0There will be an election for the position.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And 2026 nationally may be a good year for Democrats.\u00a0\u00a0Traditionally, 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.\u00a0\u00a0So Democrats ought to take heart, even those who happen to live in Crimson Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Billionaire Cincinnati-born financier Vivek Ramaswamy is running for the Republican candidacy for Governor.\u00a0\u00a0He 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.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vivek managed to chase other Republicans, notably Attorney General Dave Yost, out of the race already.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But Husted will likely prevail, setting the Republican side for the two high offices.\u00a0\u00a0So what will Democrats do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are two \u201cprinces\u201d of the Democratic Party waiting in the wings.\u00a0\u00a0Both are statewide \u201cnames\u201d, who have a huge head start in any political contest.\u00a0\u00a0And both are \u201cinterested\u201d in running again, but also suffered the sting of recent failure.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sherrod Brown wasn\u2019t ready to leave the Senate in 2024, and the Husted seat in an off-year election seems like a perfect opportunity.\u00a0\u00a0And former-Congressman Tim Ryan suffered a tough loss to Vance in 2022.\u00a0\u00a0Though Ryan seemed to run the \u201cperfect campaign\u201d, the National Democratic Party pulled a lot of his funding and the rug out from under his campaign in the final weeks.\u00a0\u00a0That left him without the weapons to \u201cclose the deal\u201d against Vance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And both Brown and Ryan are concerned that the Democratic Party \u201cimage\u201d plays against their needs here in Ohio.\u00a0\u00a0Brown got hammered in 2024 by a Republican effort to tie Democrats to transgendered women (preying on \u201creal\u201d women).\u00a0\u00a0Ryan watched that, and also Brown\u2019s inability to match Republican spending dollar for dollar as the 2024 campaign closed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brown and Ryan share a common theme:\u00a0\u00a0the dignity of work.\u00a0\u00a0They are both concerned that Democrats are too tied to \u201cwedge issues\u201d like gender and migration, instead of focusing on the needs of working folks.\u00a0\u00a0As Brown often says:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter whether you shower before work or after, your work has value\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.\u00a0\u00a0Ohio needs a Democratic National Committee commitment to make the \u201cvalue of work\u201d the center of the 2026 campaign.\u00a0\u00a0Any other path, and Republicans will use a differing national debate to \u201cchange the subject\u201d here, and clobber Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, Brown and Ryan won\u2019t be left \u201cholding the bag\u201d again.\u00a0\u00a0Any successful campaign in the state will cost millions, and certainly a battle against Ramaswamy will be even more expensive.\u00a0\u00a0These two Democrats aren\u2019t willing to run for office for \u201ca future race\u201d, or to act as a placeholder.\u00a0\u00a0They will only run to win.\u00a0\u00a0And they need to have the assurance that winning is possible in Crimson Ohio.\u00a0\u00a0It take more than great campaign themes.\u00a0\u00a0It requires a national commitment of Democratic funds and ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"