Democratic strategists told NPR on October 13, 2026 that the Ohio Senate race between appointed Republican incumbent John Husted and former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is tightening and could flip, a shift from six months ago. Trump will visit Ohio at least three times before the election. Against that, Republicans have won 82 percent of Ohio statewide candidate races since 1994. Affordability, gas and electricity prices, and backlash over data centers driving up utility bills in central Ohio remain the contested ground. Doug Schoen, a former Democratic pollster for Bill Clinton and Michael Bloomberg, has since joined the discussion.