The 2018 United States Senate election in Ohio took place on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was February 7, 2018; the primary election was held on May 8, 2018. Incumbent

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown ( ; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2007 and the 47t ...

—the only remaining elected Democratic statewide officeholder in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

at the time of the election—won his reelection bid for a third term, defeating Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Jim Renacci James B. Renacci ( ; born December 3, 1958) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he is a former city council president and two-ter ...

by a 6.84% margin in the general election, larger than the 6% margin in the election six years earlier. This was the only statewide victory in 2018 for Democrats in Ohio, and was one of ten Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state won by

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

. Renacci conceded defeat on November 7, 2018. With Republican

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine ( ; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th List of governors of Ohio, governor of Ohio since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served a ...

winning the governorship in the same year, this was the first election since 1974 in which Ohio simultaneously voted for a gubernatorial nominee and a U.S. Senate nominee of opposite parties. As of , this is the last time the Democratic Party won a statewide race in Ohio.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

, incumbent U.S. senator

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

, U.S. representative

Eliminated in primary

* Melissa Ackison, businesswoman * Don Elijah Eckhart, candidate for the Republican nomination in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Mike Gibbons, investment banker (founder of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company) * Dennis Jones * Dan Kiley

Withdrawn

Josh Mandel Joshua Aaron Mandel (born September 27, 1977) is an American politician who served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Ohio State Representative for the 17th district from 2 ...

Ohio State Treasurer The treasurer of the U.S. state of Ohio is responsible for collecting and safeguarding taxes and fees, as well as managing state investments. The Treasury was located in the Ohio Statehouse from 1861 to 1974, when it was moved to the Rhodes Stat ...

and nominee for the U.S. Senate in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Declined

Ken Blackwell John Kenneth Blackwell (born February 28, 1948) is an American politician, author, and Conservatism in the United States, conservative activist who served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1979–1980), the Ohio State Treasurer (1994–1999), and ...

, former mayor of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, former

, and former

Ohio Secretary of State The secretary of state of Ohio is an elected statewide official in the state of Ohio. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is responsible for overseeing elections in the state; registering business entities (corp ...

* Rick Jones, Butler County sheriff *

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, former U.S. representative * Mary Taylor,

lieutenant governor of Ohio The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes Governor of Ohio, governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed via impeachment conviction. Before 1852, the president of the Oh ...

(ran for governor and lost the primary) *

Pat Tiberi Patrick Joseph Tiberi (; born October 21, 1962) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2018. His district included communities north and east of Columbus. He is a member of the Republican ...

, U.S. representative *

Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American politician and retired college football coach who has served as the 67th lieutenant governor of Ohio since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Tressel previously was the president ...

, president of

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

and former

Ohio State football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played its home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, since 1 ...

coach *

JD Vance James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who is the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

, author and venture capitalist

Endorsements

Polling

with Josh Mandel
with Matt Huffman
with Pat Tiberi

Results

General election

Candidates

* Sherrod Brown (D) * Stephen Faris (I,

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

) * Philena Irene Farley ( G, write-in) * Bruce Jaynes (L, write-in) * Jim Renacci (R)

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 14, 2018
Complete video of debate
October 20, 2018
Complete video of debate
October 26, 2018

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

with Mike Gibbons
with Melissa Ackison
with Don Eckhart
with Dan Kiley
with Pat Tiberi
with Josh Mandel

Results

The election was not particularly close, with Brown winning by 6.82%. Brown was the only

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

who won statewide in Ohio in this election cycle. He was able to win re-election by winning back most of the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

, which swung Republican in 2016. Brown did well in Portage County, Summit County, and

Trumbull County Trumbull County is a county in the far northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat and largest city is Warren, which developed industry along the Mahoning River. Trumbull Coun ...

, all very heavily pro-union counties. Brown also did well in the rust belt from Lucas County, home of

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Or ...

, all the way to

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

, home of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. Brown also trounced Renacci in Franklin County and Hamilton County, home of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and

respectively; the latter, Hamilton County, was once considered a Republican stronghold. Renacci, while performing well in most rural areas of the state, underperformed

, the Republican Party's nominee and eventual winner for governor. Regardless, Renacci somewhat overperformed in comparison to most polling before the election, while Brown lost in several counties he had won in his previous Senate races. In particular, Brown lost ground in Appalachia compared to his 2012 run, losing the Appalachian counties of Jefferson, Belmont, Monroe, Ross, Pike, and Scioto counties. This was in line with the region's shift towards the Republican Party, as evident by Obama's inability to win these counties in his 2012 bid for the presidency of the United States, Strickland's inability to win these counties in his 2016 bid for United States Senate (despite having previously represented Appalachia in the United States House of Representatives), and Clinton's underperformance in Appalachia in her 2016 bid for the presidency of the United States relative to previous Democrats. Exit polls also show Brown had a very strong showing among minority and women voters, which was key to his victory. Brown was sworn in for a third term as the senior senator from Ohio on January 3, 2019. 2018 United States Senate election in Ohio results map by township

2018 United States Senate election in Ohio results map by township

2018 United States Senate election by State House District

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican *

Pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

(largest city: Waverly) * Ross (largest city: Chillicothe) * Scioto (largest city:

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

) * Belmont (largest city: Martins Ferry) * Jefferson (largest city:

Steubenville Steubenville ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area has an es ...

) * Sandusky (largest city: Fremont) *

Clark Clark is an English language surname with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland, ultimately derived from the Latin ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educated ...

(largest municipality: Springfield) * Stark (largest city: Canton) *

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

(largest city: Woodsfield)

By congressional district

Brown won nine of 16 congressional districts, including five that elected Republicans to the House.https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::00eb40c5-ef15-4634-af87-72fd2b9d062d

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Candidates
at

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Campaign finance
at FEC
Campaign finance
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Official campaign websites
Sherrod Brown (D) for SenateStephen Faris (I) for Senate (Write-in)Jim Renacci (R) for Senate
{{2018 United States elections

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Sherrod Brown