Hamilton County voters cast 345,799 ballots in the Nov. 3 general election, a turnout of 56.07% of the county’s 616,757 registered voters, according to unofficial results from the Hamilton County Board of Elections, with all 563 precincts reporting. The county’s results now head to the official canvass, which the board must complete and certify no later than Tuesday, Nov. 24, under Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2026-48.
Hamilton County backed the Democratic statewide winners by wide margins in the unofficial count. For governor, Amy Acton and David Pepper received 216,201 votes in the county, 63.11%, to 118,273, or 34.52%, for Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert McColley, according to the Board of Elections’ unofficial results. Acton won the governorship statewide in unofficial results. For the U.S. Senate seat, Sherrod Brown received 207,080 votes in Hamilton County, 60.51%, to 120,368, or 35.17%, for incumbent Jon Husted, according to the board’s unofficial results; Brown also won statewide.
Statewide Issue 3, the constitutional amendment enshrining Ohio’s photo ID requirement for voting in the state constitution, passed in Hamilton County with 196,610 votes in favor, 58.60%, to 138,884 against, 41.40%, according to the board’s unofficial results. Issue 3 also passed statewide, though Hamilton County’s yes share was notably lower than the statewide margin.
In the county’s own marquee race, Democrat Meeka Owens won the open Hamilton County commissioner seat with 198,464 votes, 60.95%, to 126,640, or 38.89%, for Republican Jonathan Pearson, according to the board’s unofficial results. Owens, a Cincinnati City Council member who defeated incumbent Commission President Stephanie Summerow Dumas in the May Democratic primary, joins Commissioners Alicia Reece and Denise Driehaus, giving Democrats all three seats on the board that oversees the county budget and major services.
Two major levies also passed in the unofficial count. The Hamilton County Children’s Services levy, a 5.61-mill renewal and increase for four years, was approved with 191,100 votes in favor, 56.58%, to 146,651 against, according to the board’s unofficial results. The levy funds child protection investigations, foster care and adoption services through Hamilton County Job and Family Services. Cincinnati Public Schools’ additional 7-mill levy passed with 73,935 votes in favor, 60.92%, to 47,426 against, according to the board’s unofficial results — the district’s first new-money levy since 2016.
None of the county’s verified margins is close, but the canvass still matters. According to the Secretary of State’s office, Hamilton County had 9,553 provisional ballots and 328 military and overseas ballots outstanding after Election Day, and the board will decide provisional eligibility and count cured and timely ballots during the canvass. One state House race touching the county was separated by 19 votes in unofficial results, inside the margin for an automatic recount under Ohio law.
What happens next: the post-election cure period for absentee and provisional ballot deficiencies ends at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Board of Elections in Norwood. The official canvass must begin between Nov. 8 and Nov. 18, and Hamilton County must certify its results by Nov. 24 and file the official canvass with the Secretary of State the same day, under Directive 2026-48. Contests inside the recount margins would then go to a recount before certificates of election are issued.