On May 3, voters went to the polls for the first of two primary elections in 2022 to nominate candidates for statewide offices, including Governor & Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor and State Treasurer.

Only three of the contests were contested. On the Republican side, Governor Mike DeWine, who is seeking reelection to a second term in office, was able to hold back 3 challengers from his right flank who were seeking to deny the Governor the opportunity to compete for a second term. Unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s office show that DeWine prevailed by a comfortable margin the race, defeating this closest challenger, former Congressman Jim Renacci, by more than 214,000 votes (or 20.11%). Governor DeWine did receive the GOP nomination with only a plurality of the vote, but with the opposition to the Governor split between three challengers, the DeWine was able to prevail and will stand before the voters for a second term in November.

On the Democratic side, in the contest between Southwest Ohio Mayors, former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley prevailed against former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley in the contest to represent the party in the fall campaign against DeWine. Whaley defeated Cranley by more than 150,000 votes (or 29.98%).

The only other contested primary was for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State. Incumbent Frank LaRose easily defeated his challenger, former State Representative John Adams by more than 275,000 votes (or 29.32%).

This was the first of two primary elections that will be conducted in 2022. Due to the ongoing litigation surrounding the state’s legislative redistricting process, candidates for the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate did not appear on the primary ballot last week. Because the map-making process is ongoing, no date has been set at present for when the legislative primary will take place. One date most frequently mentioned is August 2, which is traditionally reserved for special elections. A federal court may order the primary be held that day in the coming weeks, or the legislature could vote to hold the primary that day, however to date no action has been taken.

Looking ahead to the fall, the primary results set-up a historic contest for governor. With her win of the Democratic nomination, Nan Whaley becomes the first woman ever to contest the general election for governor on one of the two major party tickets. The Democratic ticket also consists of two female candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor. Whaley’s running mate is Cuyahoga County Councilwomen Cheryl Stephens.

Later this summer, Greater Ohio will be releasing our next Public Policy Agenda – Reflect and Refocus: Furthering Resilient Communities. The policy agenda will set out our legislative priorities and goals for the next two years. We also will once again be releasing our Questions for the Candidates in the 2022 Election, which will feature a series of questions that GOPC believes candidates should have answers for going into the 2022 election.