Mercer County voted the way Mercer County usually votes — overwhelmingly Republican — even as Ohio’s statewide races went the other way. In the Associated Press’s tabulation of the county’s unofficial Nov. 3 general election results, with 35 of 36 precincts reporting (97.22%), Republican candidates carried the county by better than three-to-one in the top races.
In the governor’s race, Vivek Ramaswamy received 13,665 votes in Mercer County to 3,710 for Amy Acton, with Libertarian Don Kissick at 628, according to the AP’s Mercer County reporting unit. Acton won the governorship statewide. In the U.S. Senate race, Jon Husted received 13,755 Mercer County votes to 3,489 for Sherrod Brown, with Libertarian William Redpath at 491 and independent Greg Levy at 286, the AP reported; Brown won that seat statewide.
The county’s strongest consensus came on State Issue 3, the constitutional amendment writing Ohio’s photo ID requirement for in-person voting into the state constitution. Mercer County voters approved it 15,357 to 2,680 — about 85% yes — according to the AP, well above the measure’s roughly 65% statewide approval in unofficial results. Statewide, the contrast ran through both top races: Brown defeated Husted overall even while losing Mercer County by more than 10,000 votes, and Acton defeated Ramaswamy statewide while Mercer County gave Ramaswamy nearly four votes for every one of hers.
The figures above are the AP’s unofficial tabulations, covering an estimated 98% of the county’s vote. They do not yet include the Mercer County Board of Elections’ own official canvass, and outcomes in the county’s local contests — including the commissioner and auditor races on the Nov. 3 ballot — are not reported here until the board publishes its own numbers.
All Ohio results remain unofficial until they are certified. Under Ohio Secretary of State Directive 2026-48, county boards of elections must complete their official canvasses and certify their results by Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2026, after reviewing provisional ballots and any qualifying overseas and military ballots returned within the post-election window.
What happens next is the canvass in Celina: the Mercer County Board of Elections’ official count will confirm the local winners who take office in January, and the county’s certified totals will go to the Secretary of State for the statewide certification.
Photo: Eric Lochtefeld, CC BY-SA