Just 11 days until Election Day.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says more than a million people have voted in-person or requested absentee ballots for the November midterm election.
The Ohio race being watched closely both inside and outside the state is that for United States Senate between JD Vance and Tim Ryan.
A new Baldwin-Wallace poll finds the race as essentially tied when the poll’s margin of error is factored in.
One key finding by BW pollsters, the possibility that ticket-splitting will be a main factor in the outcome of Ohio’s election. Ticket-splitting is when a voter chooses candidates from differing parties for different races.
“It wasn’t long ago that we thought ticket splitters were extinct. Now they may decide some of the most important races this election cycle,” said Dr. Lauren Copeland, political science professor and associate director of BW CRI in a release. “In Ohio, DeWine earned bipartisan praise for his handling of the pandemic – a stark contrast to Vance who ran far to the right in the primary. It is likely we will see many DeWine-Ryan ticket splitters this November.”
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and County Council President Pernel Jones have resigned from the Justice Center Executive Steering Committee created to plan for a new county jail and courts building.
The plans for a new jail have been placed on hold until after the election and the selection of the next county executive.
Budish and Jones resigned in a letter addressed to three of the steering committee members: County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley, Court of Common Pleas Administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan and Public Defender Cullen Sweeney. Those three and three other members of the committee voted against building a new jail at the preferred location on Transport Road. The site once housed an oil refinery which raised environmental concerns.
The resignation letter from Budish and Jones accused the steering committee members of overstepping their role as advisers.
Conor Morris, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
Ken Schneck, Editor, The Buckeye Flame
Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV