Ohio voters have handed down their verdict in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races, with Democrat Sherrod Brown defeating Republican Jon Husted Tuesday in the high-stakes contest for the seat formerly held by Vice President JD Vance.
According to Decision Desk HQ, Brown secured 48.6 percent of the vote to Husted’s 46.52 percent, with 83 percent of the vote counted.
Decision Desk HQ projects Sherrod Brown wins the OH US Senate Special Election General #DecisionMade: 11:15 PM EST Follow live results here: https://t.co/CvzCIkjrSw https://t.co/mwHQqsqEdf
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 4, 2026
The race pitted incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to the seat by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in January 2025, against former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, who had his sights set on a political comeback after being ousted from office just two years ago by Republican Bernie Moreno.
Tuesday’s special election determines who will serve the remaining two years of Vance’s original Senate term, which expires in January 2029. Meaning [WINNER] will have to run again next election cycle.
Brown, 72, represented Ohio in the Senate for three terms before losing to Moreno. His decision to jump back into the political arena set up an unusually competitive contest in a state that has shifted decisively toward Republicans in recent presidential elections.
President Trump carried Ohio by more than 11 points back in 2024, which made Brown’s comeback one of the more closely watched races of the midterms as a test of whether Democrats could be competitive in a state that has become favorable to the GOP in recent election cycles.
Despite that Republican lean, the Ohio Senate race remained a toss-up heading into Election Day, with the final RealClearPolling average showing Brown leading Husted by 2.8 percentage points. A with a late Emerson poll, however, gave Husted a two-point edge while a New York Times/Siena poll showed Brown ahead by five points.
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