“Democratic turnout surged despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, a sign of high enthusiasm among these voters” 

COLUMBUS, OH – Ohioans are turning out in record numbers to vote for Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections with not only Republican turnout down in Ohio and Democratic turnout up, but unaffiliated voters also choosing Democratic ballots far more often than Republican ones, according to recent reporting. While Democratic turnout surged in the May primary election despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, Ohio Republicans saw glaring warning signs with turnout down as they are forced to defend their devastating economic policies like the reckless war with Iran, gutting healthcare to pay for tax breaks for billionaires and corporate special interests, and raising grocery prices.

This comes as Democratic turnout increased throughout the state as “the number of Democratic votes cast exceeded the number of previously registered Democrats in 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties,” while “Republican votes didn’t exceed the number of previously registered Republicans in any county.” Cuyahoga County also emphasized a stark reality for Republicans as “Democratic turnout was up in 56 of 59 of the county’s communities compared to the 2022 primary election,” while “Republican turnout fell in all but three Cuyahoga County communities.”​​

Read more about the warning signs for Republicans in Ohio and the great energy around Ohio Democrats this year: 

Signal Ohio: Why Ohio Democrats nearly caught Republicans in primary election turnout 

• In the May 5 primary election, 907,273 Ohioans requested Republican ballots while 815,922 requested Democratic ballots, according to the official count from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. 
• This was a dramatic change from the 2022 primary election, when Ohioans cast roughly 1.1 million Republican ballots, double the roughly 540,000 ballots that Democrats cast that year. 
• A Signal Statewide analysis found the shift was driven by two main forces: Republican-affiliated voters turning out at lower rates than their Democratic counterparts, and previously unaffiliated voters choosing Democratic ballots far more often than Republican ones.
• Democratic turnout surged despite there being no competitive races at the top of the ticket, a sign of high enthusiasm among these voters. Governor candidate Dr. Amy Acton had no primary opponent while Senate candidate Sherrod Brown only had a nominal one. There were similarly no competitive races at the top of the Republican ticket, which was a sharp contrast from 2022, when GOP voters decided a hotly contested U.S. Senate primary and a crowded governor’s race. 
• Political analysts traditionally caution against reading too much into primary election turnout. But there are other signs Democrats are highly engaged in what could be a good political year for their party, if for no other reason than the traditional backlash that occurs against the party that controls the White House. 
• “It’s one signal in part of a greater trend that we’re seeing,” said Alex Lisner, chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. “And it’s something that I hope we can carry over into November.”
• First, on the Republican side: the main reason for the drop in turnout compared to the 2022 primary is the larger share of registered Republicans who opted to stay home. 
• Republican turnout also was soft in Ohio’s largest counties, which are home to many GOP voters even though Democrats regularly win them comfortably overall. Cuyahoga, Summit and Franklin all fell in the bottom half of Republican turnout rates.
• Meanwhile, voters cast 815,922 Democratic ballots in May – which is nearly 36,000 more ballots than there were registered Democrats heading into the election. 
• The reason? The support Democrats got from the pool of 5.7 million unaffiliated voters. These voters are a mix of people who’d previously voted in a partisan primary but not recently, and those who have never voted in a partisan primary election at all. 
• These new – or at least previously unengaged – Democrats were especially concentrated in some key areas for the party: the Cleveland/Akron area (Cuyahoga, Lorain, Lake, Portage and Summit counties), Cincinnati (Hamilton County) and Columbus (Franklin and Fairfield counties). 
• As a result, the number of Democratic votes cast exceeded the number of previously registered Democrats in 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Republican votes didn’t exceed the number of previously registered Republicans in any county.  
• Cuyahoga County, a Democratic Party stronghold that has seen a long-term trend of falling voter turnout, shows how the statewide pattern played out on a community level.
• Democratic turnout was up in 56 of 59 of the county’s communities compared to the 2022 primary election. The three where it fell were eastern suburbs: Highland Hills (down four votes), University Heights (down 50 votes) and Beachwood (down 231 votes).
• Republican turnout fell in all but three Cuyahoga County communities – Independence voters cast 601 more Republican ballots than four years before, and voters in Newburgh Heights cast four additional votes while GOP voting in Linndale was unchanged.
• Overall, 40,262 more Democratic ballots were cast in Cuyahoga County compared to four years earlier, while voters cast 17,729 fewer Republican ones.
• All told, the county saw the number of registered Democrats rise from 137,865 to 182,112. The 44,003-voter registration increase was the largest Cuyahoga County Democrats have seen for a primary midterm election since at least 2014.
• David Brock, chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, said this was the first time that the party saw increased registration for years. He also said more Democrats voted in the May primary in Cuyahoga County than in the primary elections in 2018, 2022 or 2024. (Records show Democratic turnout in May was about 300 votes higher than in 2018, and well above those other years.)
• The increase in turnout came as the local party emphasized getting out the vote, Brock said, which included following up with voters who requested mail-in ballots to make sure they submitted them.
• “I think this bodes well for November in this county,” Brock said.

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