The2018 Ohio Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect theOhio Secretary of State , concurrently with elections to theUnited States Senate ,U.S. House of Representatives ,governor , and otherstate andlocal elections. Primary elections were held on May 8, 2018, though both theRepublican andDemocratic nominees ran uncontested.[ 1]
Incumbent secretaryJon Husted was term-limited and instead was the Republican nominee forlieutenant governor .[ 2] Republican state senatorFrank LaRose defeated Democratic state representativeKathleen Clyde in the general election.[ 3]
Primary endorsements [ edit ] Frank LaRose (R)
U.S. governors
Bob Taft , former Governor of Ohio (1999–2007), former Ohio Secretary of State (1991–1999), and state representative from the 65th district (1977–1981)[ 6] Statewide officials
Ken Blackwell , former Ohio Secretary of State (1999–2007), former Treasurer of Ohio (1994–1999), and nominee for governor in2006 [ 6] State representatives
Dorothy Pelanda , state representative from the 86th district (2011–2019)(originally ran against LaRose) [ 6] Newspapers and other media
Organizations
Kathleen Clyde (D)
U.S. presidents
Executive branch officials
U.S. senators
Sherrod Brown ,U.S. Senator fromOhio (2007–present), U.S. representative fromOH-13 (1993–2007), former Ohio Secretary of State (1983–1991), and state representative from the 61st district (1975–1983)[ 18] Labor unions
Newspapers and other media
Organizations
By congressional district [ edit ] LaRose won 12 of 16 congressional districts.[ 36]
^ Key: A – all adults RV – registered voters LV – likely voters V – unclear ^ Poll sponsored by the Cincinnati Enquirer ^ Poll sponsored by Innovation Ohio ^ Poll sponsored by the Ohio Democratic Party ^ "Ohio Primary Election Results" .The New York Times . May 9, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Icsman, Marilyn; Couch, Erin (October 5, 2018)."Ohio's Secretary of State race: Here's everything you need to know" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Candisky, Catherine (November 6, 2018)."Ohio Republicans sweep statewide downticket office races" .Akron Beacon Journal . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Evans, Nick (September 28, 2018)."Who's Running For Ohio Secretary Of State, And What Is That Anyway?" .WOSU 89.7 . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Kilpatrick, Mary (October 16, 2017)."Dorothy Pelanda ends campaign to become Ohio's secretary of state" .Cleveland.com . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^a b c d "LaRose supported by over 200 republicans" .Record-Courier . November 9, 2017. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^a b c "2018 Official Elections Results" .Ohio Secretary of State . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Rosenberg, Gabe (May 16, 2017)."State Rep. Kathleen Clyde Announces Run For Ohio Secretary Of State" .WOSU 89.7 . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Molnar, Nancy (August 28, 2018)."Kathleen Clyde meets with Democrats on campaign trail for secretary of state" .Times Reporter . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio announces primary election endorsements" .Abortion Forward . April 5, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "See the Columbus Dispatch political endorsements for 2018" .The Columbus Dispatch . November 2, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .Both are well equipped for the job, but we give the endorsement to Republican Frank LaRose over Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde. ^ "BFA PAC Endorses Frank LaRose for Ohio Secretary of State" .Buckeye Firearms Association . August 13, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "LaRose Announces FOP Ohio Endorsement" .Frank LaRose for Secretary of State . Archived fromthe original on September 7, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Wagner Feasel, Julie (August 29, 2018)."Ohio Chamber Backs Yost for Attorney General and LaRose for Secretary of State" (PDF) .Ohio Chamber of Commerce . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Ryan Kowaleski, Molly (September 13, 2018)."OSCPA announces endorsements for Senate, Secretary of State" .OSCPA . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ McCammond, Alexi (August 1, 2018)."Meet the 81 candidates Obama is endorsing in 2018" .Axios . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "Biden endorses Clyde for Ohio Secretary of State" .Record-Courier . June 21, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "Brown endorses Clyde for Secretary of State" .Record-Courier . February 26, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "Election 2018 Boilermaker Endorsements" .International Brotherhood of Boilermakers . November 5, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "Kathleen Clyde for secretary of state" .Akron Beacon Journal . October 16, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "Endorsement roundup for Nov. 6, 2018 election: editorial board" .Cleveland.com . October 10, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "The Blade's 2018 midterm endorsements" .The Blade . November 6, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "EMILYs List Endorses Kathleen Clyde for Ohio Secretary of State" .EMILYs List . October 23, 2017. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Metzger, Ianthe (September 6, 2018)."Human Rights Campaign Endorses Kathleen Clyde, Rob Richardson and Zack Space for Ohio State Office" .Human Rights Campaign . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio Announces Statewide Endorsed Candidates for 2018" .Planned Parenthood . May 9, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018)."Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races" . RetrievedOctober 20, 2025 . ^ Kaplan, Doug (November 1, 2018)."Ohio Polling" (PDF) .RealClearPolitics . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "Ohio 2018 Late October Elections Poll" (PDF) .Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute . October 28, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "FINAL October 2018 STUDY" (PDF) .Suffolk University . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on November 7, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Borchardt, Jackie (October 11, 2018)."Midterm election poll: As Trump visits Greater Cincinnati, new Enquirer poll shows 4 in 10 Ohio voters open to impeachment" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "Ohio 2018 October Elections Poll" (PDF) .Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute . October 8, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "Innovation-Ohio-Change-Research-Survey-Crosstabs-crosstabs.pdf" (PDF) .Innovation Ohio . September 6, 2018. Archived fromthe original (PDF) on January 29, 2022. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ "New Poll Shows Tied Gubernatorial Race, Close Races Up and Down the Ballot" .Innovation Ohio . September 6, 2018. Archived fromthe original on September 7, 2018. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 .^ Richardson, Seth (June 1, 2018)."New poll shows Sherrod Brown leading Senate race, Mike DeWine on top in governor's" .Cleveland.com . RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ Williams, Anniken (May 8, 2018)."Democrat Kathleen Clyde Leads Republican Frank LaRose in Ohio Secretary of State Race" (PDF) .Public Policy Polling . Archived fromthe original (PDF) on August 31, 2019. RetrievedOctober 22, 2025 . ^ "DRA 2020" .Daves Redistricting .
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