Ohio voters headed to the ballot booths across the Buckeye State on Tuesday. The primary election saw electors finalize the gubernatorial and senate races for the fall, while also deciding some key local issues.
The Senate campaign is on track to be among the most expensive this year as Republicans try to hold onto their majority during a difficult midterm cycle. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, will attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted. In the governor’s race, biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy clinched the Republican nomination on Tuesday and will face off this fall against the state’s COVID-era health director, Democrat Amy Acton.
Locally, the Lakewood City Schools levy appears to have passed decisively, according to live tracking results from the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. The unofficial tracker shows the levy getting approxiamtely 66 percent of the vote, or 7,100 yays versus 3,629 nays.
About the levy
On Feb 2, Lakewood City School’s Board of Education voted to place a $6.9 million operating levy, Issue 2, on the May 5th Primary Election Ballot. According to information on thedistrict’s website, local funds account for about 60% of the district’s budget, and because of the uncertainty of receiving funds on the state or federal level, it’s highly important for the district that this levy passes. The levy is projected to cost property owners in Lakewood about $14 per month per $100,000 of property valuation, per the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer. Collections would begin in the calendar year of 2027.
Prior to Tuesday, Lakewood Schools’ Superintendent Maggie Niedzwiecki told The Land that the levy would help with staffing. “If approved, it will provide the funding our district needs to retain and attract talented teachers to Lakewood.”
The levy enjoyed support from a coalition of groups, including Lakewood Teachers Association, Lakewood Council of PTAs and Lakewood Mayor Meghan George. However, there was organized opposition to the levy. Bill Locke, a PTA member for Lakewood Elementary school, expressed concerns about the levy.
“The way they pushed this out feels rushed, and it’s taking away an opportunity from the community,” he said. Locke’s frustration also stems from the view that the district has not taken enough steps to control the budget. Locke would have preferred the district and city look at other solutions to trimming the budget and balancing the books before pursuing a levy.
Lakewood Board of Education President Betsy Shaughnessy urged support for the levy prior to the election.
“We do not take approaching voters with a request lightly, but we know that more local funding is needed to keep up with the costs of staffing, programming, and technology. Lakewood City’s School District’s most recent five-year forecasts also project that expenditures will outpace revenues by 10%. Levy dollars from our community comprise more than half of our budget. Without additional funding, the state mandates that we will need to show immediate reductions. We want to avoid any major changes or disruptions to the education we deliver to Lakewood families. This levy would help our district preserve what we have.”
State-wide races
Another stunningly expensive Senate race — the state’s third in four years — is expected as Republicans try to hold their majority during a difficult midterm cycle. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown easily defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary and will now attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
Democrats are counting on Brown’s previous popularity with voters to flip the seat, even as the Senate Leadership Fund — a top GOP super PAC — has pledged $79 million to defend Husted.
Brown, who served three Senate terms before losing a bitter reelection bid in 2024, pledged at his victory party to fight for working-class Ohioans.
“No one in the Senate is standing up to these corporations who raise your prices and who game the system,” Brown said as attendees booed. He continued, “Ohioans don’t have anyone fighting for you, until November.”
Husted, who did not hold an election night party, was unopposed in his primary, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term that Vice President JD Vance won in 2022.
In a statement earlier in the day, Husted said Brown has no room to talk about failures in Washington.
“Over the next six months, Ohioans will hear a lot from Sherrod Brown about his so-called solutions,” Husted said. “The truth is, after 32 years in Washington, he created the very problems he now blames others for. His record is indefensible.”
In the governor’s race, biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy clinched the Republican nomination over internet personality Casey Putsch to face Dr. Amy Acton, the COVID-era health director, this fall. Acton was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
This story featured reporting from The Land’s Henry Haas and Chris Mosby, and The Associated Press’ Julie Carr Smyth.
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