Constitutional amendment

Ohio voters cast ballots Tuesday in a general election featuring a closely watched governor's race between Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, succeeding term-limited Gov. Mike DeWine, with Libertarian Don Kissick also running. The U.S. Senate contest pits Republican incumbent Jon Husted against Democrat Sherrod Brown, with Libertarian Bill Redpath and independent Greg Levy also on the ballot, alongside House races including Marcy Kaptur versus Derek Merrin and Max Miller versus Brian Poindexter. Also decided: two Ohio Supreme Court seats (Jennifer Brunner vs. Colleen O'Donnell and Dan Hawkins vs. Marilyn Zayas), races for attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, and treasurer, all other statewide executive offices, the full state legislature, and Issue 3, a measure to enshrine the state's voter ID law in the constitution.

Polls ran 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; mail ballots had to arrive by close of polls to count. Early and absentee voting topped 1.73 million ballots statewide ahead of Election Day, up from about 1.47 million in 2022. If both Democratic Supreme Court incumbents lose, Republicans would hold a 7-0 majority on the court. Voters approved Issue 3 by a roughly 65%-to-35% margin, adding a photo ID requirement to the Ohio Constitution; accepted IDs include an unexpired Ohio driver's license or state ID, a U.S. passport, or military and veterans ID, with an alternative verification option for voters with religious objections to being photographed. The measure was backed by President Trump, state GOP leaders, and both major gubernatorial candidates, while the ACLU of Ohio and legislative Democrats opposed it.

Democrat Amy Acton defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio's governor's race, becoming the state's first woman governor and the first Democrat elected to the office in 20 years. The Associated Press called the contest for Acton and running mate David Pepper on election night, with final results showing Acton winning roughly 52% of the vote to Ramaswamy's 44%, a margin of more than 364,000 votes. The race drew record spending and turned contentious late when Ramaswamy aired an ad featuring Acton's estranged mother, drawing bipartisan criticism, including from Republican Governor Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy conceded. Democrats also broke the GOP's veto-proof supermajority in the Ohio House, giving Acton more leverage with the legislature than expected.

Acton's win confirms what prediction markets had signaled for weeks, as she remained the heavy favorite for governor heading into Election Day.

North Carolina voters approved all three constitutional amendments on the ballot, each passing by roughly 60% or more. The income tax amendment caps the state rate at 3.5%, replacing the 7% ceiling set in 2018; the current flat rate of 3.99% is already set to decline. Republican sponsors say the cap locks in tax cuts, while Democratic Gov. Josh Stein called it a "millionaire protection cap" shifting costs to ordinary residents.

A property tax amendment also passed, directing the legislature to later set limits on annual local tax revenue growth; details of the cap remain to be written. A third amendment extends the existing photo ID requirement to all forms of voting, including mail-in ballots. Critics warn the property tax limit could squeeze county budgets funding services like healthcare and law enforcement.

Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Atlanta mayor, has won Georgia's governor's race, defeating Republican healthcare executive Rick Jackson, who self-funded his campaign with over $200 million. The Associated Press called the race for Bottoms, who finished with about 54% of the vote to Jackson's 46%. Bottoms becomes the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history and the first Democrat to win Georgia's governorship since 1998, succeeding term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp. Her victory came four years after Stacey Abrams's unsuccessful bids against Kemp. Bottoms campaigned on Medicaid expansion, raising the minimum wage, repealing Georgia's six-week abortion ban, and countering President Trump's policies.

The race topped a 2026 midterm ballot that also included Sen. Jon Ossoff's reelection bid against Republican Mike Collins, all 14 U.S. House seats — with Democratic incumbents Hank Johnson and Nikema Williams both winning reelection — and record midterm early voting exceeding 2.8 million ballots.

West Virginia voters approved Amendment 1, a constitutional measure specifying that only U.S. citizens may vote in state elections, with Decision Desk HQ projecting passage by a wide margin. The amendment changes the state constitution's language from referring to "citizens of the State" to explicitly requiring voters to be "citizens of the United States who are citizens of this state." State law already required citizenship to vote, so the measure enshrines an existing rule in the constitution rather than changing current practice.

West Virginia was among several states with citizenship- and voter ID-related measures on this year's ballot, reflecting ongoing Republican-led efforts around voter eligibility and election integrity nationwide.