The new year is not disappointing. We are already starting to see a new set of political players and storylines unfold in Columbus. So, I want to share a few of the topics I’m planning to follow this year.

Candidate elections

This year’s big stories will involve positioning for the 2026 races, when Ohio will hold elections for Vice President-Elect JD Vance’s U.S. Senate seat, statewide offices, including governor and Ohio Supreme Court, and the state legislature. 

On the Democratic side, former state health director Dr. Amy Acton, who earned attention for her COVID-19 updates in 2020, announced this week that she’s running for governor. As we have written before, she’s topped the list of potential statewide candidates that includes former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, former Congressman Tim Ryan, Ohio House Minority Leader Alliison Russo and  U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes. The last Democrat elected statewide, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner, also will be up for reelection in 2026. 

Republicans are maneuvering too, and their lineup will take shape any day, when Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to fill Vance’s seat. Among those being considered to replace Vance are Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who also has been making moves to run for governor. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is expected to formally jump into the governor’s race first. Also rumored to be considering bids are billionaire political media personality Vivek Ramaswamy and perennial potential statewide candidate U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson.

Running for statewide office is a lot of work, and candidates usually announce their campaigns more than a year in advance. Beyond keeping tabs on the campaign tactics, I’ll be looking at the candidates’ top issues and policies and their potential impact on Ohioans.

Ballot issues

This year is an off-year election cycle, which means there are no state or federal candidates on the ballot. But the one thing that could fill up the election calendar is issue campaigns. These can get pretty interesting, as we saw in 2023, when voters approved twin ballot measures enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution and legalizing recreational marijuana use.

So far, the only ballot issue set for a vote is the renewal of a longstanding state infrastructure program. In May, voters will decide whether to allow the state government to borrow up to $2.5 billion to pay for local road, bridge, and water and sewer projects. State lawmakers teed up this vote in December, when they passed proposal called House Joint Resolution 8. 

We don’t know yet whether Ohio might hold a vote on another state ballot issue. This might happen if the legislature votes to propose another state constitutional amendment this year or if special interest groups manage to collect the hundreds of thousands of valid voter signatures needed to propose a ballot issue.

Special interest groups often debate whether it’s better to pursue their pet issue in an off year – when voter turnout tends to be lower – or during an election year, when they can try to use it to energize their supporters. Ballot-issue campaigns, whether they are truly grassroots or not, also affect how a candidate might frame the issue.

There are two separate potential constitutional amendments that have advanced past a preliminary stage in the state’s ballot issue process. One would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour and the other, the “Ohio Voter Bill of Rights” would expand state voting access laws. 

New policy and the budget bill 

Finally, there are the consequences of elections. Namely new government policy. We’ll be taking opportunities to track the Ohio impact of President-Elect Donald Trump’s new administration. But our main focus will be on Columbus.

A big policy story you can expect to hear more about soon concerns DeWine’s budget bills. Budget bills are the main way governors can make their mark in state law. This will be the last budget bill of DeWine’s political career, since he must leave office at the end of 2026 due to term limits.

DeWine is expected to introduce his budget bills by the end of this month. But the two main budget bills – the transportation and operating budgets – have different state deadlines. The transportation budget must be approved by March 31, while the operating budget must be approved by June 30. Each bill must be approved by the Ohio House and Senate. Each can and undoubtedly will make changes.

Budget bills have included some high-profile changes during DeWine’s tenure. These include a hike in the state gas tax in the 2019 transportation budget, school-funding increases and income-tax cuts contained in the 2021 operating budget, and universal school voucher eligibility in the 2023 operating budget.