House Effects
Monday, September 21, 202643 days until Election Day, November 3, 2026
Governors · 2026

Ohio Governor

Amy Acton (D)v.Vivek Ramaswamy (R)TOSS-UP

Open seat, currently Republican.

Projected margin
D+0.7
Nine in ten outcomes: D+10 to R+9
Chance of winning
55%
Amy Acton
Polls alone
D+0.7
17 polls from 13 pollsters; latest Sep 10. Weight in projection: 100%.
Fundamentals alone
R+4.0
Weight in projection: 0%.
Polls

The average over time

Each poll is first shifted by its sponsor's and its pollster's measured lean, then weighted by recency and track record. Sample size gets no weight: in 2,000-plus past races it predicted nothing about accuracy. Why.

R+15R+10R+5EvenD+5D+10D+15Mar ’25JunSepDecMar ’26JunSepD+0.7Election Day
adjusted weighted average shading: which side the average favors each poll, as published party-aligned pollster or sponsor
Before any poll

What the fundamentals say

A regression on past governor's races, fit without looking at this year. The national environment term uses the generic ballot after its historical correction (D+5.3).

What each term adds to the estimate
BaselineR+1.1
Partisan leanR+5.8
National environmentD+2.9
Incumbency0.0
Incumbent's last over/under-performance0.0
Fundamentals estimateR+4.0
Input: partisan lean
R+9.7
Presidential vote relative to the nation, 2024 (and 2020).
Handicappers, for comparison
Cook: Tossup · Sabato: Lean R · Inside Elections: Tilt R
Not an input to the projection.
Table view

All 17 polls in the average

“Share” is how much of today’s average each poll supplies. It depends on recency, the pollster’s record, whether the poll screens for likely voters, and how many other polls the same firm has in the race. It does not depend on sample size.

DatesPollsterSampleActonRamaswamyAs publishedAdjustedShare of average
Sep 1–10YouGov
for Bowling Green State University
1,000 LV4845D+3D+2.5
moved 0.5 toward R
23%
source
Aug 11–13Wedgewood Polls800 LV4746D+1D+1.4
moved 0.4 toward D
16%
source
Aug 6–10Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research
for Fox News
1,008 RV4850R+2R+1.9
moved 0.1 toward D
11%
source
Jul 29 – Aug 4Tulchin ResearchDEM.-ALIGNED
for John Kulewicz, Democratic candidate for Attorney General
600 LV4644D+2R+1.5
moved 3.5 toward R
14%
source
Jun 15–28The New York Times/Siena College601 LV46.746.9EvenD+0.4
moved 0.6 toward D
10%
source
Jun 14–16Fabrizio Lee & Associates/Impact Research
for AARP
800 LV4744D+3D+2.8
moved 0.2 toward R
8.7%
source
Jun 2–4Tulchin ResearchDEM.-ALIGNED
for John Kulewicz, Democratic candidate for Attorney General
600 LV4744D+3R+0.5
moved 3.5 toward R
3.4%
source
May 28 – Jun 1Beacon Research/Shaw & Co. Research
for Fox News
1,015 RV5049D+1D+1.1
moved 0.1 toward D
2.3%
source
Apr 7–14Bowling Green State University/YouGov1,000 RV4748R+1R+0.9
moved 0.1 toward D
2.1%
source
Apr 3–9Echelon Insights
for NetChoice
413 LV4449R+5R+4.7
moved 0.3 toward D
3.9%
source
Mar 13–14Quantus Insights809 LV45.944.9D+1D+1.3
moved 0.3 toward D
2.4%
source
Feb 10–22EMC Research
for Ohio Environmental Council
1,343 LV5343D+10D+10.0
2.0%
source
Dec 3–8 ’25Data Targeting
for T Roosevelt Action
603 LV4345R+2R+2.0
0.8%
source
Dec 6–8 ’25Emerson College850 RV45.945.2D+1D+0.7
0.6%
source
Oct 2–14 ’25Bowling Green State University/YouGov800 RV4750R+3R+2.9
moved 0.1 toward D
0.1%
source
Sep 19–22 ’25Garin-Hart-Yang Research GroupDEM.-ALIGNED
for Ohio Federation of Teachers
800 LV4645D+1R+2.3
moved 3.3 toward R
0.4%
source
Aug 18–19 ’25Emerson College1,000 RV39.448.7R+9R+9.3
0.1%
source

LV: likely voters. RV: registered voters. A: all adults. “Adjusted” is the published margin after removing the sponsor shift and the pollster’s measured house effect; the small print says how far that moved the poll. Dem.-aligned and Rep.-aligned mark polls paid for by a party, a campaign, or an allied group, or taken by a firm whose published work is mostly for one side. They are shifted by the average lean of such polls, then counted at full weight.

History

Recent results for this office

YearDemocratRepublicanResult
2022Nan WhaleyMike DeWineR+25.0
2018Richard CordrayMike DeWineR+3.7
2014Edward FitzGeraldJohn Richard KasichR+30.6