HAMILTON — Butler County voters backed Republican candidates in every statewide race and voted yes on State Issue 3 in the Nov. 3 general election, according to the Butler County Board of Elections’ unofficial results. The board reported 148,257 ballots counted from 249,106 registered voters — a turnout of 59.5% — with all 292 precincts reporting. All results in this article are unofficial until the board completes its official canvass and certifies them.
In the governor’s race, Butler County gave Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley 76,829 votes, 52.30%, to 65,509 votes, 44.60%, for Amy Acton and David Pepper, according to the board of elections. In the U.S. Senate race, Jon Husted received 77,463 votes, 52.79%, in the county to Sherrod Brown’s 62,334, 42.48%, the board reported. State Issue 3, the photo-ID constitutional amendment, passed in Butler County with 97,403 yes votes, 71.19%, to 39,424 no votes.
Republicans carried the remaining statewide offices in the county by wider margins, according to the board of elections: Keith Faber took 57.22% for attorney general, Frank LaRose 57.94% for auditor, Robert Sprague 54.55% for secretary of state and Jay Edwards 57.00% for treasurer. In the two Supreme Court races, Daniel R. Hawkins received 56.73% and Colleen O’Donnell 56.24% of the Butler County vote, the board reported.
In the county’s own races, Michael V. Ryan won the commissioner seat with 81,992 votes, 57.25%, to Mike Miller’s 61,235, 42.75%, and Nancy Nix won the auditor’s race with 85,494 votes, 58.98%, to Amy Hines’ 59,472, 41.02%, according to the board of elections. Butler County voters also renewed the county mental health levy, Issue 6, with 88,497 votes for the levy, 60.85%, to 56,943 against, the board reported.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the board of elections’ unofficial results, updated the night of Nov. 3, cover all 292 precincts and show how Butler County voted in every statewide, district and county contest on its ballot. What we’re still waiting on: the board’s unofficial summary does not publish a provisional-ballot count or a count of outstanding military and overseas ballots still eligible to be counted, so the unofficial totals can still shift during the official canvass before any result becomes final.
What happens next follows the Ohio Secretary of State’s Directive 2026-48 for the canvass and certification of the Nov. 3 election. Voters who need to cure a deficiency in an absentee or provisional ballot have until Saturday, Nov. 7, and the official canvass may begin no earlier than Sunday, Nov. 8 and no later than Wednesday, Nov. 18, according to the directive. The board must complete the canvass and certify Butler County’s results no later than Tuesday, Nov. 24, the 21st day after the election, after which the Secretary of State completes the statewide canvass.
Photo: Greg Hume, CC BY-SA 4.0