Sherrod Brown (D) defeated incumbent Jon Husted (R), Bill Redpath (L), and Gregory Levy (I) in the special election for U.S. Senate in Ohio on November 3, 2026. Click here for detailed results. Brown and Husted led in media attention, campaign fundraising, and endorsements.

The election pitted Brown, a former three-term senator who lost re-election in 2024, and Husted, the incumbent, against each other. On January 17, 2025, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) appointed Husted to replace Vice President J.D. Vance (R) in the Senate. The election determined who would serve the remaining two years of the term Vance was elected to in 2022.

According to the Cook Political Report's Jessica Taylor, "Brown functions more as the incumbent in this race, while the appointed Husted is a comparative newcomer. Even though Husted has won statewide in his own right as secretary of state, both of his wins were in the very favorable GOP years of 2010 and 2014, so this will be a very different midterm cycle for a candidate who still isn’t as well-known statewide as a typical incumbent."

Brown was a member of the U.S. Senate from 2007 to 2025. He lost re-election to Bernie Moreno (R) 50.1% to 46.5% in 2024. Brown's was one of five U.S. Senate seats that changed party hands in the 2024 general elections. Before serving in the Senate, Brown was a state representative from 1975 to 1982, secretary of state from 1982 to 1990, and a member of the U.S. House from 1993 to 2007. Brown's campaign website said, "With all the craziness coming out of Washington, including giving massive tax breaks to corporations and billionaires at the expense of hardworking Ohioans, Sherrod knows he has the ability to do something about it, and that’s why he’s running for Senate."

Before his appointment to the Senate, Husted was a state representative from 2001 to 2009 (serving as speaker from 2005 to 2009), a state senator from 2009 to 2011, secretary of state from 2011 to 2019, and lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2025. Husted ran on his record in public office and his personal story of being born into foster care and then being adopted. A campaign advertisement posted to his campaign website said, "As speaker of the Ohio House, Jon delivered a conservative, balanced budget with the largest tax cut in Ohio history to help working families keep more of their money. As Lieutenant Governor, Jon led efforts to attract the biggest economic projects in state history, creating thousands of good-paying jobs across Ohio. Thanks to Jon's leadership, Ohio is a national leader in career tech education, helping high school students graduate career-ready without the burden of college debt."

As of November 6, 2026, 13 special elections have been called for the 119th Congress. From the 113th Congress to the 118th Congress, 80 special elections were held. For more data on historical congressional special elections, click here.

The outcome of this race affected the partisan balance of the U.S. Senate in the 120th Congress. Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats were up for election, and another two seats were up for special election. Democrats held 13 of the seats up for election, and Republicans held 22.

At the time of the election, Republicans had a 53-45 majority in the chamber. To read more about the U.S. Senate elections that took place in 2026, click here.