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Democrat Sherrod Brown has won Ohio's special U.S. Senate election, defeating Republican incumbent Jon Husted, who was appointed last year to replace Vice President JD Vance. The Associated Press called the race for Brown, who is returning to the Senate two years after losing his seat to Bernie Moreno in 2024. Brown campaigned heavily on affordability and attacked Husted over data center-driven electricity costs; Husted had sought Trump's support through multiple campaign rallies. The race was among the most expensive nonpresidential contests ever, with spending topping $500 million, and is a notable Senate pickup for Democrats. Brown will serve through January 2029, with the seat up for a full term in 2028.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton toured the Youngstown Business Incubator and rallied in Liberty, stressing ties to Mahoning and Trumbull counties ahead of Election Day against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Acton has repeatedly addressed a Ramaswamy-backed ad featuring her estranged mother, calling her a liar and alleging mental health issues; Gov. Mike DeWine called it exploitative. Both candidates are closing with pitches on Ohio's affordability crisis, with Ramaswamy touting his business background and property-tax executive orders, and Acton emphasizing public-service experience, a working families tax cut, and school funding.

Ramaswamy has self-funded and outspent Acton nearly $80 million to $34 million overall, though Acton has outraised him recently; both have shattered Ohio's gubernatorial fundraising record, and neither has held elected office before. Democrats are banking on a late push, including a Cleveland rally with Barack Obama and expanded early voting, as prediction markets show Acton favored heading into Election Day.

President Donald Trump made his third October campaign stop in Ohio, rallying supporters in Chillicothe ahead of the November 3 midterms. Joined by Sen. Bernie Moreno, Trump backed Sen. Jon Husted, who faces former Sen. Sherrod Brown in a tight special election for the seat JD Vance vacated, and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who faces Democrat Amy Acton. Trump criticized Democratic economic policy and touted Ohio data-center growth while urging turnout.

Democrats countered with their own events, including a Cincinnati rally featuring Acton and Brown, following a Cleveland appearance where former President Barack Obama campaigned alongside them. Early voting is already underway statewide.

Democrats Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton hold leads over their Republican opponents in two new Ohio surveys ahead of the Nov. 3 election. A Fox News poll shows Brown ahead of Sen. Jon Husted 52%-47% among likely voters, while Cook Political Report has Brown up 49%-43%. In the governor's race, Fox finds Acton leading Vivek Ramaswamy 50%-48%, with Cook showing a wider 49%-44% margin. Economic concerns and Trump's job approval, underwater in Fox's poll, favor Democrats, while Husted and Ramaswamy draw strength from men and voters citing stable finances. The Senate race has become the cycle's most expensive, with over $422 million in ad spending tracked.

A super PAC with ties to Republican vendors, Enough Promises Ohio, has expanded its spending to roughly $1.8 million supporting independent candidate Greg Levy and attacking Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio's U.S. Senate special election. Federal filings show about $753,000 for media through Outbound Messaging LLC and $1.04 million for mailers via Seven Farms, a vendor linked to operatives who previously worked on Bernie Moreno's 2024 campaign against Brown. Levy's campaign has disavowed the mailers and condemned them as voter deception. A separate GOP-aligned PAC, Sentinel Action Fund, spent over $280,000 backing Republican Jon Husted. Analysts say boosting a minor candidate can siphon votes in a tight race ahead of the Nov. 3 election to fill J.D. Vance's former seat.

A newly formed super PAC called Enough Promises Ohio spent nearly $400,000 on mailers promoting independent socialist Senate candidate Greg Levy and opposing Democrat Sherrod Brown ahead of Ohio's Nov. 3 special election. The mailers, urging voters to "Join the Revolution" and "Send a Worker to the Senate," touted Levy's support for Palestinians, universal health care, free child care and education, and a $30 minimum wage.

Levy's campaign disavowed any connection to the mailers, calling them a deceptive, "racist caricaturing" of Levy, who is Black, and said it is weighing legal action. FEC records show the PAC, registered Sept. 29 in Reynoldsburg, paid a printing vendor tied to Whistlestop Strategies, a direct-mail firm linked to Republican consulting group Big Dog Strategies, which has advised Trump's MAGA Inc. super PAC and Bernie Moreno's 2024 campaign against Brown. A separate GOP-aligned super PAC, Sentinel Action Fund, used the same vendor to back Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Analysts note third-party candidates can siphon marginal votes in tight races; polling shows Husted and Brown within single digits of each other, with Libertarian Bill Redpath also running.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's office announced that his Expedited Pardon Project has resulted in 323 pardons since launching in December 2019, with another 340 applications currently in progress. The program fast-tracks clemency for people with low-level criminal records who have maintained law-abiding lives for years after their convictions.

Staff and students at Ohio law schools, including Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, provide free legal help preparing applications submitted to the Ohio Parole Board, whose recommendation is required before the governor can grant a pardon. The expedited track typically takes 12 to 18 months, compared to several years under the standard process. Eligibility requires at least 10 years since completing a sentence, no new convictions in that span, efforts to meet sentencing obligations, employment history, and community involvement. Violent and sexual offenses, including murder and rape, are automatically disqualifying. Moritz College of Law reported more than 1,600 applications received from 84 Ohio counties as of early February.

A batch of 13 Ohio laws signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in July took effect Tuesday, Oct. 6. Among the most notable: House Bill 492 makes it a misdemeanor for drivers or passengers to refuse to give their name, address and date of birth during a lawful traffic stop, while also toughening penalties for interfering with arrests under the motor vehicle code. House Bill 20 creates a 15-foot buffer zone protecting first responders from harassment or interference, with penalties scaling up to felony charges if physical harm is risked.

Other measures include Senate Bill 276, requiring public schools to teach the "success sequence" concept linking education, employment and marriage timing to reduced poverty, with implementation phased in by the 2026-27 school year; House Bill 533, which extends vehicular homicide and assault statutes to golf carts, mopeds and similar vehicles; and Senate Bill 315, which mandates chip-enabled SNAP benefit cards and strengthens Medicaid fraud oversight and enforcement.