COLUMBUS (AP) — Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is seeking a second term as the state’s chief executive while challenger Nan Whaley, a Democrat, hopes to regain a seat last won by her party 16 years ago.
DeWine won a surprisingly tight three-way primary in May as conservatives angered by his efforts to slow COVID-19 sought to unseat him.
Whaley handily defeated former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley in her own primary.
DeWine and Whaley bonded over a 2019 mass shooting that killed nine in Dayton, but Whaley has increasingly criticized the governor ahead of the November election for his failure to pass stronger gun laws and for his anti-abortion stance.
Early voting off to a strong start
With 21 days until Election Day, the state’s top election official released data on Tuesday indicating that early voting and requests for absentee ballots were showing a modest increase over the last midterm election.
Early voting for the Nov. 8 election is underway
“While not a significant increase over the same point in the 2018 election, Ohioans are showing confidence in Ohio’s abundant early voting opportunities,” Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.
Requests for absentee ballots and early in-person voting showed a 2.7 percent increase over the same point in the 2018 gubernatorial statewide election. A total of 943,105 voters have either asked for absentee ballots or voted in person at their Board of Elections offices.
However, the 71,764 Ohioans who have already cast ballots in person is 74.3% more than at the same point in 2018.