By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-07 00:56:54 | Updated at 2026-10-07 03:04:18
2 hours ago
TOLEDO, Ohio—Early voting began in the Buckeye State on Oct. 6 as residents cast their ballots on contests that will decide the governorship, a U.S. Senate seat, and two competitive U.S. House districts.
Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are vying to replace the term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in a race that the Cook Political Report ranked as a toss-up.
Ramaswamy, who was born and raised in Cincinnati, gave a final push to voters at VFW Post 7424 in Wauseon, Ohio, on Oct. 5.
“I want to lead Ohio to be the top state in the country to raise a young family, to give our kids a world-class education, and to be the state where we once again revive that quaint idea of the American dream,” Ramaswamy said.
The Republican received roaring applause as he detailed his multi-point data center plan to regulate the server factories, including making the tech companies foot all electricity bills for residents in the area, pushing for a stop to non-disclosure agreements surrounding projects, and demanding that companies build centers in pre-zoned areas that are abandoned.
“We got a lot of industrial sites; we don’t need to build them on the farmland,” Ramaswamy said during the event in Fulton County, which leans Republican.
Wearing a Trump hat and patriotic overalls, resident Michael Schaefer told The Epoch Times he arrived at Ramaswamy’s Monday night rally still skeptical of the Republican but left a supporter.
“I just mostly came because I wanted to hear him talk for himself [and to] get past all the noise, speculation,” Schaefer said.
The voter added, “I found it very enlightening. Everything he had to say about data centers, in particular. He wants them to be lowering energy costs, costs in surrounding communities, lowering property taxes in the surrounding communities, strictly no construction on farmland, all that stuff. It’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
Republican Gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy spoke at a rally in Wauseon, Ohio on Oct. 5, 2026. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
Ramaswamy’s opponent, Acton, wants a conditional moratorium on data centers until the companies behind projects can prove they can cover all utility costs, bring jobs, exclusively build with union labor, operate with full transparency, support the needs of local communities, and live by Ohio’s environmental standards.
In neighboring Lucas County, which leans Democrat, an early in-person voter told the Epoch Times on Tuesday why she wants Acton.
“She’s someone that seems to be more in touch with citizens than Ramaswamy,” Marybeth, who only gave her first name, said.
Another Lucas County voter, Alyssa Waisner, said she mostly voted for Democrats.
A campaign sign for Democrat Amy Acton sat near an early in-person voting location in Toledo, Ohio Oct. 6, 2026. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
“I believe the way that the Republican Party has run things is not within my belief system; it goes against a lot of things that I believe in,” Waisner said.
Waisner, who said she leaned conservative as a young adult but now leans Democrat, added that she does not support President Donald Trump’s decision to start the war in Iran.
“The more people opposed to the war that we can get into office, and help get that closer to a resolution, the better,” Waisner added.
Senate
Republican Incumbent Jon Husted is facing off in a special election against former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, who lost his Senate seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024.
Husted was picked by DeWine to fill JD Vance’s U.S. Senate seat in early 2025 after Vance and Trump won the 2024 presidential election and prepared to enter the White House.
The Cook Political Report ranked the race as a toss-up.
House
Two more close contests include Ohio’s 7th and 9th U.S. Congressional districts.
In Ohio’s 7th Congressional district, which represents an area south of Cleveland, incumbent Rep. Max Miller, a Republican, is in a close race against Brook Park City Councilman Brian Poindexter, a Democrat.
Miller is facing allegations of domestic abuse toward his ex-wife and their daughter, which he disputed.
Meanwhile, in Ohio’s 9th Congressional district, representing the area around Toledo, Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur, Congress’s longest-serving woman, is trying to fend off Republican Derek Merrin.
Derek Merrin, the Republican nominee for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, spoke at a rally in Wauseon, Ohio, on Oct. 5. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) talks to Ukrainian children at the House Triangle in Washington on Jan. 31, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
“Marcy Kaptur has been in office in Congress longer than I’ve been alive,” Merrin said during the rally in Wauseon with Ramaswamy.
Merrin added, “I’m 40. She’s been in office for 43 years. Raise your hand if you think it’s time for a constitutional amendment to put term limits on members of Congress. Term limits for Democrats and term limits for Republicans.”
The crowd cheered as Merrin pushed to retire the 80-year-old congresswoman.
