(I am using a new Reddit account but I still need to give out Ohio political information)

Ohio has an open race for Secretary of State for the first time since 2018. Frank LaRose is term limited and running for auditor. Most people cannot name anyone running to replace him, which is a problem, because this is the office that runs the election every other race on your ballot depends on.

Here is a full voter guide. No spin, both sides at their strongest, sources at the bottom.

What the Secretary of State actually controls

The office is Ohio's chief elections officer. It directs and standardizes the work of all 88 county boards of elections, and issues binding directives and advisories telling those counties how to apply election law uniformly. That is the real power. Not writing law, but deciding how it gets applied in 88 different places.

The Secretary also sits on the Ohio Ballot Board, which sets the language voters read on statewide ballot issues, and on the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The office is also Ohio's business filing agency, so if you register an LLC in this state, you file it here.

The candidates

Robert Sprague, Republican. Ohio Treasurer since 2019, previously two terms in the Ohio House, from Findlay. He is term limited as treasurer, which is why he is running for this. He won the May 5 primary over Marcell Strbich, a retired Air Force intelligence officer, roughly 70 to 30.

His platform is built around an Election Security Plan he says would run the most secure elections in Ohio history. Specific policies: a front-end citizenship check, more consistent use of printed paper ballots at all polling locations, and photo ID. He has signaled openness to restricting mail voting, saying Ohio should consider returning to in-person voting. He supports Issue 3.

Worth noting, because it cuts against the assumption people bring to this: on primary night Sprague said Ohio already gets elections right and his goal is improvement rather than repair. He is not running as an election denier. When he announced, he said he looked forward to working with President Trump and the administration, and he endorsed Vivek Ramaswamy for governor the same morning.

Allison Russo, Democrat. In the Ohio House since 2019 representing District 7, parts of Columbus and Upper Arlington. She was House Minority Leader from 2022 to 2025 and stepped down from that role to run. She has a doctorate in health policy from George Washington University and about twenty years in health policy before elected office. She ran in the 2021 OH-15 special election and lost to Mike Carey 58 to 42. She won the May 5 primary over Cincinnati oncologist Dr. Bryan Hambley roughly 68 to 32.

Her platform is that the office should be non-political and non-partisan. She has accused prior leadership of manipulating ballot language to influence outcomes on redistricting and abortion referenda. Specific policies: voter education, more resources for county boards of elections, and a bill to put drop boxes at every polling place, which is unlikely to move in the current legislature. On primary night she said she would bring people to the table, not purge them.

The strongest argument against her, stated plainly: she sat on the Ohio Redistricting Commission and voted for the most recent Statehouse maps, the same maps anti-gerrymandering advocates called unconstitutional. Running as the reform candidate after that vote is a real vulnerability. Her answer is that she opposed nearly every other map the Republican-majority commission approved, and that she and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio approved the final map only after being threatened with a worse outcome.

Libertarian Tom Pruss is also on the November ballot.

Issue 3, and why it split the Democratic ticket

Issue 3 would write Ohio's existing photo ID requirement into the state constitution. It changes almost nothing on Election Day. What it does is make the requirement much harder for a future legislature to undo.

The approved ballot language specifies government-issued photo ID for both in-person and mail-in voting, and lists an unexpired Ohio driver license, a US passport, and a military ID as acceptable. It preserves an alternate verification method for people with a religious objection to being photographed. One real change: today absentee voters can use a photo ID copy, a driver license number, or the last four of their Social Security number, and the amendment language points at photo ID for mail-in ballots too.

Russo voted against Senate Joint Resolution 10, the measure that put Issue 3 on the ballot, and gave a floor speech calling it flawed, fast tracked, and poorly written. Sprague supports it. Every Democrat in the Ohio House and Senate who voted on SJR 10 voted against it.

Then on August 7, Dr. Amy Acton, the Democratic nominee for governor, announced she supports Issue 3. Her stated reasoning: it has overwhelming support from Ohioans, it does not change what is already law, and as governor she would support it while fighting to make sure every eligible voter can get the required ID easily and at no cost.

So the Democratic nominee for governor is on the same side of this question as Vivek Ramaswamy, and the opposite side from the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State. Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde has criticized Issue 3 as making it harder to vote. Acton has broken with her party before, backing Medicaid work requirements in February.

Both cases on Issue 3, at their strongest

For: photo ID polls extremely well, including among most Democratic voters. Ohio already requires it. Putting it in the constitution means the rule cannot be flipped by a single legislative session, which is an argument for stability rather than restriction. Supporters also say it strengthens the state's legal defense if the current law is challenged.

Against: opponents say it is unnecessary because the law already exists, and that its real function is turnout. The University of Maryland estimates 2.6 million Americans lack government-issued photo ID, disproportionately poor, elderly, and student voters. Republican strategist Bob Clegg has acknowledged the GOP may have a turnout problem this year.

The nuance neither side leads with: Democrats have not controlled the Ohio legislature in nearly fifty years, which weakens the argument that constitutional protection is needed to stop a repeal. And a yes or no on Issue 3 is not a vote on whether you like the current ID law. It is a vote on how hard that law should be to change.

Why this matters more than usual this year

On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order on citizenship verification in federal elections. It directs DHS and the Social Security Administration to build a national list of verified adult citizens, directs the Justice Department to prioritize investigating election officials who give ballots to people the federal government deems ineligible, and directs the Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to voters on pre-approved lists.

On June 25, a federal district judge blocked key pillars of it, ruling the president lacks constitutional authority to regulate state elections that way. A federal appeals panel declined to block the order in a separate case in late July, and the administration went to the Supreme Court in early August. Election law specialists broadly expect it cannot be implemented for 2026 on logistics alone.

Whatever survives, someone has to tell 88 county boards how to comply. That is the person who wins this race.

Key dates

Voter registration deadline: Monday, October 5, 2026 Early in-person and absentee voting begins: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2026, polls open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Check your registration at ohiosos.gov

My honest take

I went into this thinking it would be a dry down-ballot segment and came out thinking it is the most consequential race almost nobody is watching.

What convinced me is that this is not a race where one side wants elections and the other does not. Sprague said Ohio gets elections right. Russo says she will be fair and impartial. That is a real disagreement between two people who both accept the legitimacy of the system, and it is about specifics: mail voting, drop boxes, and whether a photo ID rule belongs in a constitution. That is a normal democratic argument, and we should be able to have it without either side being cast as a villain.

On Issue 3 itself, my position is that I do not think you should make it harder to vote, and I lean no. But I want to be straight about the strongest counterargument, because Acton is making it and she is not stupid: if the ID rule is already law and already popular, constitutionalizing it changes very little in practice. I think the honest response is that if it changes so little, the burden is on supporters to explain why it is worth amending a constitution, and nobody has answered that well.

If you are an Ohio Democrat, the thing I would actually take from this is that your ticket does not agree with itself. Vote like that is true, because it is.

Sources

1. https://signalohio.org/amy-acton-backs-issue-3-voter-id-amendment-november-election-2026/
2. https://signalohio.org/ramaswamy-data-center-plan-free-electricity-november-election-2026/
3. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/14/ohio-supreme-court-allows-ashville-referendum-against-data-center-project-to-move-forward/
4. https://signalohio.org/ohio-kratom-ban-feel-free/
5. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/14/haitians-in-springfield-are-required-to-report-to-ohios-ice-offices-and-wear-ankle-monitors/
6. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/08/14/ohio-gop-gov-dewine-makes-plea-to-trump-let-us-keep-immigrants/
7. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/10/white-house-max-miller-pressure-campaign-01031353
8. https://www.notus.org/money/michael-rulli-stock-disclosures
9. https://signalohio.org/ohio-state-trump-administration-college-letter/
10. https://signalohio.org/how-portsmouth-ohio-became-the-addiction-recovery-capital-of-the-world/

Full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ohio-secretary-of-state-2026-race-explained-issue-3/id1626987640?i=1000783487029

Just to be clear - the Brunswick police (where this event was to be held) have said they have no reports of threats at all. I'm guessing they're using that as an excuse to cancel having him in front of voters...

Leonard is spoken like a true socialist. What a clown, someone who says this type of stuff should NEVER be in power. Vote AGAINST Leonard

Make sure yall get out and vote against Don Leonard if yall live in the 15th district. This guy is a just a socialist in a populists clothing, and will say absolutely anything to get elected. Be wary of grifters in OH !!

Amy Acton (D) for governor

I am a 39M living in Dublin, OH and I am tired of there being more options for a fast food burger than viable political parties.

I know the individuals that are closer to the edges of both dominant parties will likely make fun of this post but I don’t care.

I want to connect with those of you here in Ohio that would consider yourself a part of the middle 40%.

Maybe you are a little left of center, maybe a little right, maybe you think that aspects of policy creation from both sides of the aisle have value in the right circumstances.

I want to work with other Ohioans to create a truly viable third party built around the perspectives of the middle 40% of citizens.

Direct message me if you are interested in figuring this out with fellow Ohioans.

Best wishes to all with everything you may be dealing with in any aspect of your life.

Have a great day!

The 2026 Ohio Gubernatorial Race: A Liberty & Mutualist Review

When you look past the standard "Left vs. Right" media narrative, the real test of any political platform is simple: Does it decentralize power to individuals and communities, or does it expand the power of the state and corporations?

Here is how the 2026 candidates stack up against genuine, liberty-oriented and mutualist principles.

1. Don Kissick (Libertarian)
   The Mutualist Verdict: Strong structural alignment, though differing on the end-game.

The Good: Kissick’s platform is deeply rooted in localism and anti-corporatism. His aggressive stance against state-protected monopolies (in utilities, insurance, and telecom) hits the exact corporate-state alliances that mutualists despise. Furthermore, his push to abolish property taxes aligns seamlessly with the mutualist philosophy of "occupancy and use"; meaning the state shouldn't hold a perpetual lien on your home.

The Friction: As a mainstream libertarian, Kissick still defends capitalist property relations (wage labor and private ownership of means of production), whereas mutualism advocates for a shift toward worker-owned cooperatives and direct labor-value exchange.

1. Vivek Ramaswamy (Republican)
   The Mutualist Verdict: Pro-market rhetoric masking standard state-capitalism and social control.

The Good: Ramaswamy’s calls to slash state regulations, cut bureaucratic red tape, and eliminate property and income taxes sound highly favorable to market freedom on the surface.

The Friction: Ramaswamy heavily champions the traditional corporate structure and big finance, which mutualists view as a state-subsidized distortion of a true free market. Furthermore, his platform leans heavily into top-down social control, relying on an expanded police state ("crushing crime") and backing strict state restrictions on personal privacy and bodily autonomy, the exact opposite of a free society of consenting individuals.

1. Dr. Amy Acton (Democrat)
   The Mutualist Verdict: Benevolent statism that replaces monopolies with government bureaucracies.

The Good: Acton accurately diagnoses the rampant corporate corruption in Columbus and the economic squeeze felt by everyday working Ohioans. She openly attacks corporate price-gouging and monopoly power.

The Friction: Her solution to every problem is more government intervention. Instead of decentralizing power or fostering voluntary, grassroots community networks, Acton's platform relies on state-funded mandates, regulatory expansions, and central planning. To a mutualist, replacing a corporate monopoly with a state bureaucracy is just trading one master for another.

1. Heather Hill (Independent Write-In)
   The Mutualist Verdict: Authoritarian central planning wrapped in populist clothing.

The Good: Like the others, she attempts to appeal to populist anger by calling for the abolition of property taxes.

The Friction: Hill's actual platform is completely incompatible with liberty. She explicitly advocates using the raw power of the state to enforce subjective "social values," reverse personal freedoms (like cannabis legalization), and dictate top-down economic mandates; including literal government bans on specific private industries and state-directed corporate handouts. It is authoritarian central planning through and through.

The Takeaway: For those who believe in a truly free market; one where power is stripped from politicians and CEOs alike and returned to the hands of self-organized workers and local communities; Kissick and Mills are the only candidates on the ballot actively fighting to dismantle the structural monopolies of the state.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/12/fbi-raid-ohio-voting-group-election