Voters in Tuesday鈥檚 election results handed victories to Democrats in several Ohio cities. And while there weren鈥檛 any statewide partisan races, the leader of the state鈥檚 Democrats said she thinks the outcomes are good news for next year鈥檚 elections.
Tuesday's elections show voters are interested in economic issues, said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde. And she said Democratic candidates will be focusing on those issues during the next year.
鈥淥hio Democrats are headed for their best election year since 2006," Clyde said.
Democrats have an uphill battle next year. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner is currently the only Democrat in statewide office. Since 1994, Republicans have won 82% of statewide candidate races.
Tuesday鈥檚 statewide voter turnout hovered just under 11%. But Clyde said she noticed many Democratic voters seemed motivated to get to the polls.
鈥淲e saw high Democratic enthusiasm from voters, and we are already hard at work mobilizing to grow that support and win next year,鈥� Clyde said.
Incumbent Democratic Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval defeated Republican Cory Bowman鈥攖he brother of Vice President JD Vance. Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb beat Republican Laverne Gore. Democratic candidates also won some competitive races for city councils and local school boards across the state.
How Republicans view Tuesday's election results
In a written statement, Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex Triantifilou said the energy from Democrats Tuesday was fueled by "an anti-Trump socialist agenda led by the party's far left." Triantifilou continued that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown and gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton must make clear whether they stand with this new direction of their party.
House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said he doesn't think it's big news that Democrats did well in heavily Democratic areas.
Nationally, Democrats won some key races, including high-profile contests for governor in Virginia and New Jersey. And in New York City, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, became the city鈥檚 first Muslim mayor and its first Indian-American mayor.