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Incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) defeated U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and write-in candidate Stephen Faris in the general election on November 6, 2018, for Ohio's Class 1 Senate seat.
Thirty-five of the 100 seats in the United States Senate were up for election in 2018, including two seats up for special election. Republicans gained four previously Democratic-held seats and Democrats gained two previously Republican-held seats, resulting in a net gain of two seats for the Republican Party and a 53-seat majority in the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the chamber in the 116th Congress. At the time of the election, Republicans held a 51-seat Senate majority. Democrats held 47 seats, and the two independents caucused with them. Democrats faced greater partisan risk in 2018, as they were defending 26 seats while Republicans were only defending nine. Democrats had to defend seats in 10 states Donald Trump (R) won. The GOP defended one Senate seat in a state Hillary Clinton (D) won.
Brown was first elected in 2006 by a margin of 12 percentage points and was re-elected in 2012 by a margin of 6 percentage points. Heading into the election, Ohio had elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate six times, and a Democrat three times, since 1992. Ohio voted to elect President Donald Trump (R) over Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election by a margin of 8 percentage points. In the 2012 presidential election, Ohio voted to elect Barack Obama (D) over Mitt Romney (R) by a margin of 3 percentage points.
United States Senate election in Ohio, 2018
| Poll | Poll sponsor | Sherrod Brown (D) | Jim Renacci (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravis Marketing (October 29-30, 2018) | N/A | 46% | 37% | 17% | +/-3.5 | 789 |
| Cygnal (October 30-31, 2018) | N/A | 52% | 42% | 6% | +/-4.4 | 503 |
| Baldwin Wallace University (October 19-27, 2018) | N/A | 51% | 32% | 17% | +/-3.8 | 1,051 |
| Suffolk University (October 4-8, 2018) | The Cincinnati Enquirer | 54% | 36% | 10% | +/-4.4 | 500 |
| Baldwin Wallace University (September 28-October 8, 2018) | N/A | 49% | 33% | 18% | +/-3.5 | 1,007 |
| AVERAGES | 50.4% | 36% | 13.6% | +/-3.92 | 770 |
United States Senate election in Ohio, 2018
| Poll | Sherrod Brown (D) | Jim Renacci (R) | Margin of error | Sample size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Triton Polling (September 18-20, 2018) | 52% | 42% | 5% | +/-3.1 | 1,003 |
| Baldwin Wallace University (September 5-15, 2018) | 49% | 32% | 19% | +/-3.6 | 1,048 |
| Politico/Morning Consult (September 2-11, 2018) | 47% | 31% | +/-2 | 1,592 | |
| NBC/Marist (June 17-22, 2018) | 51% | 38% | +/-4.4 | 778 | |
| Enquirer/Suffolk University (June 6-11, 2018) | 53% | 37% | +/-4.4 | 500 | |
| Quinnipiac University (June 7-12, 2018) | 51% | 34% | +/-3.7 | 1,082 | |
| Fallon Research (May 21-25, 2018) | 48% | 34% | +/-3.5 | 800 | |
| Baldwin Wallace University (February 28, 2018 - March 9, 2018) | 41% | 29% | +/-3 | 1,101 | |
| Survey USA (March 16, 2018 - March 20, 2018) | 52% | 38% | +/-3.5 | 1,408 | |
| AVERAGES | 49.33% | 35% | +/-3.47 | 1,034.67 |
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherrod Brown | Democratic Party | $22,766,559 | $24,579,169 | $1,371,245 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Jim Renacci | Republican Party | $12,061,787 | $12,664,106 | $42,873 | As of December 31, 2018 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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races to watch, incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R) won re-election, defeating former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D), Joseph DeMare (G), Thomas William Connors (I), and Scott Rupert (I) in the general election on November 8, 2016.
In his victory speech, Portman said, “Americans don’t want to just rewind the tape and live through four more years of the same tired and self-defeating routine. They expect better...we are capable of better. There will never be a better moment than now to stop the dysfunction in Washington and find that common ground.”
Portman ran a solid campaign in Ohio by focusing on local issues and avoiding much of the drama of the presidential election, while Strickland was hurt by controversial comments that he had to apologize for and by a lack of funding.
The Wall Street Journal predicted that Portman’s get out the vote effort in Ohio would provide “reverse political coattails, with big stakes for Mr. Trump. Ohio has backed the presidential winners in the past 13 elections, and no Republican in modern history has won the White House without capturing Ohio.” Portman did indeed help Trump secure victory in Ohio. Portman won 58.3 percent of the vote, while Trump won 52.1 percent, a 6.2 percent difference.
U.S. Senate, Ohio General Election, 2016
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Rob Portman Incumbent |
58% | 3,118,567 | |
| Democratic | Ted Strickland | 37.2% | 1,996,908 | |
| Independent | Thomas William Connors | 1.7% | 93,041 | |
| Green | Joseph DeMare | 1.6% | 88,246 | |
| Independent | Scott Rupert | 1.4% | 77,291 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0% | 111 | |
| Total Votes | 5,374,164 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State | ||||
U.S. Senate Republican Primary, 2016
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rob Portman Incumbent |
82.2% | 1,336,686 | ||
| Don Elijah Eckhart | 17.8% | 290,268 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,626,954 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State |
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U.S. Senate Democratic Primary, 2016
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ted Strickland |
65% | 742,676 | ||
| P.G. Sittenfeld | 22.3% | 254,232 | ||
| Kelli Prather | 12.7% | 144,945 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,141,853 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State |
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On November 6, 2012, incumbent Sherrod Brown (D) won re-election to the United States Senate. He defeated Josh Mandel (R) and Scott Rupert (I) in the general election.
U.S. Senate, Ohio General Election, 2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sherrod Brown Incumbent |
50.7% | 2,762,690 | |
| Republican | Josh Mandel | 44.7% | 2,435,712 | |
| Independent | Scott Rupert | 4.6% | 250,616 | |
| Total Votes | 5,449,018 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Demographic data for Ohio
| Ohio | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 11,605,090 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 40,861 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 51.1% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 82.4% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 12.2% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.9% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 3.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 89.1% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 26.1% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $49,429 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19.6% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Ohio. | ||
As of July 2017, Ohio had a population of 11,700,000 people, with its three largest cities being Columbus (pop. est. 860,000), Cleveland (pop. est. 390,000), and Cincinnati (pop. est. 300,000).
