The rating
Toss-up
Rated Toss-up by Cook Political Report on Oct 20, 2026.
| Forecaster | Rating | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Cook Political Report (opens in a new tab) | Toss-up | Oct 20, 2026 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Toss-up | Latest |
Who is running
Jon Husted
Republican Incumbent
Sherrod Brown
Democrat Challenger
The facts
- Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted in January 2025 after Vance became vice president.
- Brown lost his seat in 2024.
- A Cook poll, Oct. 9-13, 2026, of 959 likely Ohio voters (margin of error 3.2 points; Democratic firm New River Strategies and Republican firm GS Strategy Group) found Brown ahead by 6 points.
Opinion
Why this race matters to conservatives
Ohio has trended Republican. A Brown win would be a big Democratic comeback.
This box is the opinion of RightNewsRightNow. The rest of this page is reporting, with sources listed below.
Where these facts come from
- Cook Political ReportCurrent rating, as of Oct 20, 2026Read it (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia (election pages, with their cited sources)Candidate and race factsRead it (opens in a new tab)