Elections & Democracy: Competition & Candidate Choice
A focused path through contested and uncontested Ohio legislative primaries and the measures used to describe voter choice.
A focused path through contested and uncontested Ohio legislative primaries and the measures used to describe voter choice. Follow the steps in order to distinguish the underlying legal or electoral facts from broader political judgments the research does not make.
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Start with the statewide contest rate
WP001 reports that 181 of 223 Republican and Democratic General Assembly party-primary contests in 2026 had only one candidate.
Compare the two major-party ballots
WP001 reports similarly high uncontested rates on Republican and Democratic legislative primary ballots in 2026.
Count districts with any contested primary
WP001 examines competition at the district level by asking whether either major party offered a contested primary.
Compare contest votes
WP001 reports that 72.4% of candidate votes cast in the analyzed General Assembly primary contests were cast in single-candidate races.
Distinguish competition from turnout
Some of Ohio's largest single-candidate legislative primaries still drew tens of thousands of votes.
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