Democrat Amy Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy both cast their ballots Tuesday morning in Columbus, capping a closely watched race to succeed term-limited Governor Mike DeWine. Acton voted shortly before 10 a.m. at a polling place on Capital University's campus in Bexley, while Ramaswamy and his wife stopped to talk with reporters outside Burbank Early Childhood School on his way into the polls.
Acton's visit to the Bexley polling site was detailed by The Columbus Dispatch, which tracked voting activity across central Ohio throughout the day. The same account described Ramaswamy's stop at Burbank Early Childhood School, where he paused to speak with reporters before heading inside to vote. Separately, WHIO TV reported that both candidates cast their ballots in Columbus on Election Day morning.
As reported by NewsNation, Acton and Ramaswamy cast their ballots Tuesday morning as voters across the state headed to the polls in a race that has drawn national attention. Ohio polling places were scheduled to stay open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., per the Dispatch's live updates, and voters already in line by 7:30 p.m. could still cast ballots even if they had not yet checked in.
Early Voting Surges Past 2022 Levels
Ahead of Election Day, more than 1.73 million Ohioans had already voted, surpassing the state's early-voting total from the 2022 midterm, according to cleveland.com. That 2022 cycle saw more than 1.47 million voters cast absentee or early in-person ballots, the outlet noted, meaning this year's pre-Election Day tally cleared that mark with room to spare.
The 2026 early-vote count still fell short of the roughly 2.53 million ballots cast before Election Day in 2024, the report added. Of the 736,733 voters statewide who requested absentee ballots this cycle, 632,254 had returned them by Monday, while nearly 1.1 million Ohioans voted early in person at their county boards of elections, per the same account.
Forecasts and Polling Numbers Entering Election Day
Decision Desk HQ forecast the governor's race as leaning Democratic heading into Tuesday and listed Ohio among the states that could flip from Republican to Democratic control, according to NewsNation. The outlet also reported that its latest polling showed Acton at 49.4%, up from an earlier 45.5%, though the figures were not specified as representing vote share, a forecast model, or another particular measure.
A Ramaswamy campaign advertisement featuring Acton's mother became a notable flashpoint in the race's closing stretch, with an Associated Press headline describing the ad as an issue hanging over the contest. DeWine, the state's sitting governor, is term-limited and not on the ballot this cycle, leaving Ohio voters to choose his successor among Acton, Ramaswamy and Libertarian Donald Kissick.
How Coverage Will Continue Through Election Night
WHIO TV's News Center 7 said it would provide up-to-the-minute election coverage throughout the day, with a special 9 p.m. edition featuring results and a political expert on the station's streaming app. Live Team 7 was set to wrap up coverage on News Center 7 at 11 p.m. with results in each race, according to the outlet's report.
