Clermont County voters backed Republican candidates at the top of the ticket in Tuesday’s general election, according to unofficial results posted by the Clermont County Board of Elections with all 168 precincts reporting. The board’s unofficial summary report, generated Wednesday afternoon, shows 90,233 ballots cast out of 150,008 registered voters — a turnout of 60.15 percent. None of the results are final until the board completes its official canvass and certifies them, which must happen by November 24.
In the governor’s race, Clermont County voters favored Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert A. McColley with 51,058 votes, or 57.03 percent, over Amy Acton and David Pepper, who received 35,208 votes, or 39.33 percent, according to the board’s unofficial report. Statewide, Ohio voters chose Acton as governor, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported — meaning the statewide winner lost Clermont County.
The same pattern held in the U.S. Senate race for the unexpired term. Jon Husted led in Clermont County with 51,134 votes, or 57.15 percent, over Sherrod Brown’s 33,442 votes, or 37.38 percent, according to the board’s unofficial report. Brown won the seat statewide, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Clermont County voters also backed State Issue 3, the constitutional amendment on voter identification, by a wide margin: 63,553 votes in favor, or 71.76 percent, to 25,006 against, or 28.24 percent, according to the board’s unofficial report. In county races, Claire B. Corcoran defeated Joe Wessels for county commissioner with 61.26 percent of the vote, and Auditor John Becker was unopposed, according to the board.
Local measures split. Voters renewed the Children Services levy with 58.25 percent in favor, according to the board’s unofficial report. An additional Union Township levy failed, 10,524 to 9,785 — a levy the Clermont Guardian reported would have funded additional police and fire protection. The Bethel-Tate school district’s 5.48-mill renewal levy failed with 51.72 percent voting against, a result also reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer, and a U.S. Grant Joint Vocational School District bond issue and levy failed as well. A Batavia Township additional levy failed by just 98 votes in the unofficial count, a margin that could shift during the canvass.
What happens next is set by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Directive 2026-48 on canvass and certification. Voters have through Saturday, November 7, to cure absentee and provisional ballot deficiencies at the board of elections. The board must begin its official canvass between November 8 and November 18, review provisional ballots and any eligible military and overseas ballots, and complete the canvass and certify the results no later than Tuesday, November 24.
Until that certification, every Clermont County number remains unofficial, and totals could change slightly as the canvass proceeds. The board of elections, at 76 South Riverside Drive in Batavia, will send its certified results to the Secretary of State the same day it certifies, and the state will then move toward final statewide certification.
Photo: Aesopposea, CC BY-SA 3.0