Ohio 2026 Election & Infrastructure Intelligence

# Ohio 2026 Election and Infrastructure Overview ## Election structure Ohio held its primary on May 5, 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The ballot includes an open governor contest, a special U.S. Senate election, and all 15 U.S. House districts. Ohio adopted new federal congressional districts for the 2026-2032 election cycles. The site must distinguish the current district and representative from the district used for the 2026 ballot. ## Statewide political stakes The two statewide contests are competitive. Current RealClearPolling snapshots place Amy Acton narrowly ahead of Vivek Ramaswamy and Sherrod Brown narrowly ahead of Jon Husted. Polling must be refreshed daily and each poll should retain sponsor, field dates, sample and methodology. ## Praevoium infrastructure stakes Ohio is one of the country's largest existing data-center markets and an important semiconductor, automotive, battery, aerospace, defense, logistics and advanced-manufacturing state. The defining election issues are: - Whether the paused data-center sales-tax exemption returns - Whether new large loads pay their full generation, transmission, distribution and water costs - Water withdrawals, consumptive use and public reporting - Nondisclosure agreements and local transparency - Brownfield redevelopment and onsite generation - PJM capacity, transmission and interconnection delays - Intel and semiconductor supply-chain policy - Lake Erie, Ohio River and municipal water infrastructure - Nuclear, gas, renewables and industrial generation ## Data-center policy baseline Governor Mike DeWine paused the data-center tax incentive after projected exemption costs increased sharply. The General Assembly is considering multiple competing bills. The Ohio Consumers' Counsel lists eight pending proposals as of April 2026, including a study commission, NDA limits, minimum customer requirements, subsidy restrictions, water reporting, tax-exemption repeal, water-cost and permit rules, and

Race	Status	Candidates	Impact	Key issue
OH-01 — U.S. House — District 1	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-02 — U.S. House — District 2	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-03 — U.S. House — District 3	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-04 — U.S. House — District 4	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-05 — U.S. House — District 5	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-06 — U.S. House — District 6	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-07 — U.S. House — District 7	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-08 — U.S. House — District 8	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-09 — U.S. House — District 9	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-10 — U.S. House — District 10	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-11 — U.S. House — District 11	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact
OH-12 — U.S. House — District 12	See research	See candidate dossiers	Medium	Infrastructure and policy impact

# Ohio Race and Candidate Dossiers Posture taxonomy: Enable | Pause | Restrict | Conditional | Mixed | Unverified ## OH-GOV — Governor — Statewide - Praevoium impact: **Critical** - Polling: Acton 47.4%; Ramaswamy 46.6%; Acton +0.8 RCP average ### Amy Acton (Democratic) - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - AI posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct public position on Ohio data-center siting, incentives, water use or large-load tariffs was verified. - Backing: Party and campaign support require ongoing FEC, endorsement and outside-spending refresh. ### Vivek Ramaswamy (Republican) - Data-center posture: **Enable** - AI posture: **Enable** - Confidence: Medium - Evidence: Broadly supports accelerated AI, energy and industrial development and reduced regulatory barriers; direct Ohio data-center guardrails remain incompletely documented. - Backing: Party and campaign support require ongoing FEC, endorsement and outside-spending refresh. - Source: https://www.vivekforohio.com/ ## OH-SEN — U.S. Senate special election — Statewide - Praevoium impact: **Critical** - Polling: Brown 47.8%; Husted 47.2%; Brown +0.6 RCP average ### Sherrod Brown (Democratic) - Data-center posture: **Conditional** - AI posture: **Enable** - Confidence: Medium - Evidence: Supports domestic manufacturing, labor and infrastructure investment; classified conditional because affordability and worker protections are central, but a current Ohio-specific data-center siting framework was not located. - Backing: Party and campaign support require ongoing FEC, endorsement and outside-spending refresh. - Source: https://www.brown.senate.gov/ ### Jon Husted (Republican) - Data-center posture: **Conditional** - AI posture: **Enable** - Confidence: High - Evidence: Introduced federal Ratepayer Protection Act; supports AI/data-center buildout while requiring consideration of standards to protect households and small businesses from attributable grid costs. - Backing: Party and campaign support require ongoing FEC, endorsement and outside-spending refresh. - Source: https://www.husted.senate.gov/media/press-releases/husted-leads-bill-to-protect-americans-from-footing-the-bill-for-new-data-centers/ ## OH-01 — U.S. House — District 1 - Praevoium impact: **High** - Polling: No verified public general-election poll ### Greg Landsman (Democratic) - Data-center posture: **Conditional** - AI posture: **Enable** - Confidence: Medium - Evidence: Supports regional technology and infrastructure growth with public accountability; no specific statewide siting framework verified. - Backing: Party and campaign support require ongoing FEC, endorsement and outside-spending refresh. - Source: https://landsman.house.gov/ ### Eric Conroy (Republican) - Data-center posture: **Unverified** - AI posture: **Unverified** - Confidence: Low - Evidence: No sufficiently specific direct evidence located on AI/data-center siting, incentives, utility cost allocation

# Research Gaps and Refresh Rules - Refresh candidate certification, withdrawals and replacements daily. - Refresh statewide and battleground polling daily; store sponsor, field dates, sample, mode and margin of error. - Track all eight data-center bills and any substitute or omnibus legislation. - Track the status and terms of the paused data-center tax exemption. - Separate current representation from the 2026-2032 congressional map. - Expand FEC receipts, PAC support, endorsements and independent expenditures for every candidate. - Do not infer a candidate posture from party affiliation. Unverified remains the default without direct evidence. - Track any statewide data-center referendum or constitutional amendment certification. - Refresh OH-07 immediately for withdrawal or replacement developments.