Ohio’s 15th District House Race: Who Will Win in 2026

Ohio's governor race intensified this week as Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy and Democratic rival Amy Acton both proposed suspending the state's gas tax amid a spike in fuel prices, with statewide averages topping $4.52 a gallon and diesel hitting a record $6.77. Ramaswamy, joined by GOP legislative leaders Rob McColley and Matt Huffman, unveiled a plan for a 90-day tax suspension that lawmakers could act on before Election Day, funded initially through ODOT reserves and the state's rainy-day fund. Acton called for an "emergency gas tax holiday" but offered fewer details on duration or funding. It remains unclear whether the GOP-controlled legislature will reconvene early or whether Gov. Mike DeWine, who has raised the gas tax before, would sign such a measure.

Separately, prediction markets continue to show Acton leading Ramaswamy by a wider margin than public polling suggests. Ohio lawmakers are also pursuing a bid to bring the U.S. Space Academy to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with a decision due to NASA by October 26 and final approval resting with President Trump.

Incumbent Democrat Joyce Beatty is defending her seat in Ohio's 3rd Congressional District, which covers most of Columbus, against Republican challenger Cleophus Dulaney in the November 3 election. Beatty, 76, has held the seat since 2012, serves on the House Financial Services Committee, and is campaigning on affordable housing, civil rights, education and the economy.

Dulaney, 66, a local business owner who previously lost a 2020 primary bid for the seat, was arrested by the FBI in 2024 in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, facing charges including assaulting a police officer. He received clemency from President Trump on his first day in office as part of a mass pardon covering roughly 1,600 people tied to the attack. Dulaney describes his participation as peaceful protest and says he is running on cost-of-living, immigration and housing issues, though he lacks the Franklin County GOP's endorsement. Notably, records show Dulaney actually resides just outside the district he seeks to represent, while Beatty lives within its boundaries.

Ohio's 90-day gas-tax holiday takes effect Sunday after Gov. Mike DeWine signed the measure into law, though officials caution drivers may not see the full savings reflected at the pump, and lawmakers may face pressure over letting prices rise again when the holiday ends in early January. Separately, U.S. Rep. Max Miller is resisting calls from Ohio's two Republican senators to resign amid a domestic abuse investigation by the House Ethics Committee, a notable reversal from his own past calls for colleagues accused of misconduct to step down.

Elsewhere, federal regulators delayed a PJM power auction over concerns about data centers' share of rising electricity costs, and Ohio transportation officials unveiled a preferred, $1 billion-plus route for a new U.S. 23-I-71 connector north of Columbus meant to ease rush-hour congestion. In the state's closely watched Senate race, crypto-industry super PACs, including one backed by the Winklevoss twins, are spending heavily to oppose Democrat Sherrod Brown and support Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

Ohio's 2026 governor's race has surfaced starkly different positions on gun policy among the three candidates. Democratic nominee Amy Acton says she would pursue expanded background checks and a "red-flag" law allowing authorities to seize firearms from people deemed dangerous, echoing a scaled-back version of outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine's "Strong Ohio" plan proposed after the 2019 Dayton mass shooting. Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy has pledged to be the most pro-gun-rights governor in state history and has explicitly ruled out a red-flag law, though he has offered few other specifics and did not respond to questions on the matter. Libertarian candidate Don Kissick opposes new restrictions but, through running mate James Mills, supports reintroducing firearm-safety education in schools along with expanded mental-health services.

The debate comes as Ohio's GOP-controlled legislature has loosened gun laws in recent years, including eliminating concealed-carry permit requirements, while gun homicides statewide rose 37% between 2014 and 2024, though below a 2021 pandemic-era peak.

Democrat Sherrod Brown released a viral 30-second ad attacking Republican Sen. Jon Husted over remarks Husted made in March about people living in poverty. The ad features Ohio residents reacting with shock and profanity as they watch a clip of Husted saying poor people are "not very experienced at navigating the real world" and describing a young woman on food stamps who he said didn't "understand how money works at a grocery store," adding that "you literally have to teach people how to budget." It drew over 350,000 views within hours, praised by Brown supporters as exposing Husted as out of touch while drawing backlash from the right.

The ad comes as two new polls, from Suffolk University/USA Today and Marist, show Brown leading Husted by three and eight points respectively ahead of Ohio's Nov. 3 special Senate election to finish JD Vance's term. Both surveys found broad dissatisfaction with President Trump's job performance and economic concerns weighing on voters, continuing a months-long trend of polling favoring Brown, a former longtime senator ousted in 2024.

Ohio legislative leaders are scrambling to reconvene lawmakers next week to vote on a proposal from Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy to suspend the state's gas and diesel taxes for 90 days amid surging fuel prices. House Speaker Matt Huffman and Senate President Rob McColley, Ramaswamy's running mate, said their chambers plan to return around Sept. 30, though the effort to secure enough votes and lawmaker attendance was still in flux. The plan, unveiled Monday, would suspend Ohio's 38.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax and 47-cents-per-gallon diesel tax, at a cost of roughly $640 million covered by ODOT reserves, the general fund, and potentially the state's rainy-day fund.

Passing it with immediate effect requires a two-thirds "emergency clause" vote, meaning some Democratic support is needed in the House. Gov. Mike DeWine, who previously blocked a similar moratorium, has not committed to signing it. Critics have called the timing—weeks before the Nov. 3 election, with Ramaswamy facing a competitive race against Amy Acton—politically motivated.

Ohio has made gains against opioid addiction and overdose deaths under Gov. Mike DeWine, who championed the RecoveryOhio initiative. With his term ending and a new governor to be elected soon, advocates and lawmakers are watching whether Democrat Amy Acton or Republican Vivek Ramaswamy will keep up the state's focus on treatment and prevention. Acton, who helped lead RecoveryOhio as state health director, pledges to expand treatment access and hold corporations accountable; Ramaswamy's campaign says he supports continuing the initiative and prioritizes behavioral health. Legislators cite concerns including workforce impacts from failed drug tests, looming Medicaid funding cuts, and debate over expanding treatments like cannabis and psilocybin for addiction-linked depression.

Ohio Republican legislative leaders introduced Senate Bill 475 on Monday, revising GOP gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's proposal to suspend the state's gas tax for 90 days. The bill would use roughly $725 million from the state's projected general fund surplus to replace lost gas-tax revenue, rather than tapping the Ohio Department of Transportation's cash reserves or the state's rainy-day fund as Ramaswamy originally proposed. Gov. Mike DeWine had criticized those funding sources as risky, and lawmakers appear to have shifted course in response, though leaders declined to credit his objections directly. The bill also sets aside $1 million to reimburse gas stations for updating receipt systems.

Republican leaders, including Senate President and Ramaswamy running mate Rob McColley and House Speaker Matt Huffman, aim to pass the bill Wednesday as an emergency measure, requiring supermajority support including at least one House Democrat. The move comes as Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, who floated a similar proposal, in a closely watched governor's race just before Nov. 3 early voting begins. DeWine has signaled openness to a funding approach he can support.

Ohio's 2026 governor's race will determine who signs off on any further changes to the state's voting rules, after years of tightening under outgoing Gov. Mike DeWine, including a shrinking early-voting window, voter ID requirements, a one-drop-box-per-county limit, and proof-of-citizenship rules at BMV offices.

Democrat Amy Acton says she would largely preserve existing rules, emphasizing a balance between security and access, and has backed Issue 3, the GOP-authored measure enshrining voter ID in the state constitution. Libertarian Don Kissick wants automatic voter registration at age 18 and would consider trimming early-voting and drop-box hours, though he opposes Issue 3. Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, who has not answered questions on the topic from local reporters, previously called as a presidential candidate for ending most early voting and requiring paper ballots, but hasn't repeated those positions on the campaign trail. Separately, the race for secretary of state pits a Republican nominee seeking to eliminate drop boxes against a Democrat who wants them at every polling place. Early voting for the 2026 election begins October 6.

Republican Keith Faber and Democrat John Kulewicz, the two nominees for Ohio attorney general, have agreed to debate on Oct. 19 at Youngstown State University, becoming the first candidates in any of Ohio's nine statewide races to commit to facing off before the Nov. 3 election. The event, moderated by Tony Paglia of the Youngstown Press Club, follows a joint statement from both campaigns pledging a "free, fair, and informative" discussion for voters.

Faber, the current state auditor, has emphasized support for law enforcement, consumer protection, combating trafficking, and resisting federal overreach. Kulewicz has focused on consumer protection and price-fixing enforcement, arguing the office should prioritize state issues over national political lawsuits. Both candidates have outlined anti-corruption plans, and differ on continuing the prosecution of former FirstEnergy executives and on regulating license-plate camera technology. No debates have yet been scheduled in Ohio's higher-profile Senate or governor's races, where candidates have so far resisted or failed to arrange face-offs.