The Ohio general elections, 2010 were held on November 2, 2010 throughout

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Primary elections took place on May 4, 2010.

Federal representatives

United States Senate

In the Democratic primary on May 4, 2010, current Lieutenant Governor

Lee Fisher Lee Irwin Fisher (born August 7, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and academic. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 64th lieutenant governor of Ohio, with Governor Ted Strickland, from 20 ...

defeated current Secretary of State

Jennifer Brunner Jennifer Lee Brunner (born February 5, 1957) is an American attorney, politician and judge. She is currently an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, a position to which she was elected after serving as a judge on Ohio's Tenth District C ...

. On November 2, Republican

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...

, who has served in two federal cabinet positions and as a member of the

U. S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

defeated Fisher as well as Eric W. Deaton of the Constitution Party and Dan La Botz of the Socialist Party. Portman replaced Republican Senator

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of Cleveland from 1980 to 1989, th ...

, who retired from office after his second term expired.

United States House of Representatives

All of Ohio's eighteen seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

State executive branch

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Democratic Governor

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the 68th governor of Ohio, serving from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ...

ran for reelection to a second term in office. His running mate was

Yvette McGee Brown Yvette McGee Brown (born 1960, Columbus, Ohio, United States) became the first African-American female justice on the Ohio Supreme Court when she took office on January 1, 2011. She was the founding president of the Center for Child and Family ...

, the founding president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and former Judge of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. John Kasich, former U.S. Representative and former Chair of the House Budget Committee, was the Republican nominee. His running mate was Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor. Ken Matesz was the Libertarian nominee. His running mate was Ann Leech. Dennis Spisak was the Green nominee. His running mate was Anita Rios. Kasich narrowly defeated Strickland with 49% of the vote.

Attorney General

In the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

race, Democratic incumbent Richard Cordray was defeated by Republican

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

, a former two-term United States Senator from Ohio and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as a former county prosecutor. DeWine would go on to defeat Cordray once again in the 2018 race for governor with running mate Jon Husted, the former Secretary of State.

Polling

Results

Secretary of State

Ohio's Secretary of State race featured a contested Republican primary on May 4, 2010 between Jon Husted, an Ohio State Senator and former Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, who defeated Sandra O'Brien, a former county auditor in Ashtabula County who secured the support of the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

. In the general election, Husted defeated Democrat Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, the Clerk of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, and

Charlie Earl Charles R. Earl (born June 6, 1946) is an American politician and former member of the Ohio House of Representatives 80th district from 1981 to 1984 when he declined to seek reelection. A member of the Libertarian Party, he received enough signat ...

, a Libertarian. Incumbent

sought the Democratic nomination for United States Senator instead of running for re-election, but lost to incumbent Lt. Governor

. Husted would later go on to run for Lieutenant Governor on Mike DeWine’s ticket which defeated Richard Cordray in the 2018 election.

Polling

Results

Treasurer

In the Treasurer race, Democratic incumbent

Kevin Boyce Kevin L. Boyce (born October 5, 1971) is an Americans, American politician of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. He currently serves as President of the Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin County Board of Commissioners. Formerly ...

was defeated by Republican

Josh Mandel Joshua Aaron Mandel (born September 27, 1977) is an American far-right 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 distr ...

, a member of the Ohio State House of Representatives and a two tour veteran of the Iraq War, and Matthew Cantrell, a Libertarian candidate.

Polling

Results

Auditor

Ohio's Auditor race also featured a contested Republican primary on May 4, 2010, between Seth Morgan, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and Dave Yost, the Prosecuting Attorney for Delaware County, Ohio and former Delaware County Auditor. Yost beat

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 (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

David A. Pepper David Andrew Pepper (born June 7, 1971) is an American politician, former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, a former councilman for the city of Cincinnati and former member of the Hamilton County, Ohio Board of Commissioners. Early life Rais ...

, a Commissioner for the

Hamilton County, Ohio Hamilton County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 830,639, making it the third-most populous county in Ohio. The county seat and largest city is Cincinnati. The county i ...

Board of Commissioners, and L. Michael Howard, a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

. Republican incumbent Mary Taylor decided to run for Lieutenant Governor as John Kasich's running-mate, instead of running for re-election.

Polling

Results

State legislative branch

State Senate

The 17 odd-numbered districts out of 33 seats in the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

were up for election in 2010.

State House of Representatives

All 99 seats in the Ohio House of Representatives were up for election in 2010.

State judicial branch

Three seats in the

Supreme Court of Ohio The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

are up for election, including the office of Chief Justice. The Supreme Court is a non-partisan office and will not appear on primary ballots. Although the Democratic and Republic parties customarily endorse candidates in the general election, those endorsements are not noted on the general election ballots either. Justices Judith Lanziger and Paul Peiffer are running for re-election. Justice Maureen O'Connor is running for Chief Justice. Judges for Ohio District Courts of Appeal and Ohio Courts of Common Pleas will also appear on the ballot.

Chief Justice

Associate Justice

Ballot initiatives

Two measures were approved in the May 4 election. No ballot measures were approved for the general election.

References

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