Ohio voters were seeing red at the ballot box on Tuesday in choosing Republican candidates for both major national races.
For the third time, voters supported Republican Donald Trump for president while also sending newcomer Republican Bernie Moreno to the U.S. Senate.
Kent State University political science expert Mark Cassell said that supporting one party in both national races was not a complete surprise.
“We're still digesting what it means,” said Cassell, professor of political science. “Ohio voted much like the rest of the country. Trump and Republicans down the ballot outperformed 2016 and 2020 across the country, including Ohio. Following Florida’s lead, Ohio has clearly shifted from purple to red. The failure of Issue 1 and the races all show that like much the country, Ohio as a state has become more conservative.
“What is also interesting, however, is that the election showed that conservatism has changed, that a partisan realignment is occurring.”
Issue 1 Overwhelmingly Rejected
Ohio voters rejected Issue 1, which would have shifted the responsibility of redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries from politicians to citizens.
Had it passed, a 15-member citizens redistricting commission would have been created to redraw the maps for Ohio Statehouse seats and U.S. Congressional districts beginning with the 2026 election. That commission would have been comprised of five Republicans, five Democrats and five independents.
Instead, the state’s current districts, which were drawn by a group of five Republicans and two Democrats, will stay in place.
Sykes Returns to the US House
Emilia Sykes, who earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kent State, was reelected Nov. 5 to the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, which includes the university's Kent and Trumbull campuses and the Twinsburg Academic Center. Sykes, a longtime Akron Democrat, defeated Kevin Coughlin, a Republican who had previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate.
Born and raised in Akron, Sykes was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives to represent her hometown in November 2014. Sykes served in Democratic leadership for four years, holding the positions of assistant whip, minority whip and minority leader. She was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022.