Dayton 2026 Elections

The local layer of a Dayton voter's November 3, 2026 ballot, beneath the statewide slate. As across this sweep, there is no city race in 2026 — Dayton's commission-manager government ran in November 2025, when incumbent Mayor Jeffrey Mims lost to commissioner Shenise Turner-Sloss; the city's next elections are 2027 and 2029.

Montgomery County is a true swing county — Democratic Dayton, Republican suburbs — but the 2026 map tilts the biggest races rightward. The result is a split ballot: a safe-Republican congressional seat on top, and genuinely contested county and suburban-statehouse races underneath.

The races worth watching

• Montgomery County Commission 2026 — Carolyn Rice (D, incumbent) vs. Margie Christie (R) vs. an independent: the real competitive countywide contest in a swing county.
• Dayton Statehouse Battlegrounds 2026 — the suburban Ohio House ring (HD-36, HD-37, and open HD-39), the county's genuine legislative fights.
• Ohio's 10th Congressional District (2026) — Mike Turner (R) vs. Kristina Knickerbocker (D); the marquee federal race, though the 2025 remap made it safer Republican.

The rest of the ballot

• County: besides the commission seat, County Auditor Karl Keith (D, in office since 2000) faces a Republican but is favored. Every other row office is on the 2028 cycle.
• Ohio Senate: only SD-5 is up, and it is a Republican walkover (Phil Plummer, no Democrat filed). The Dayton-core Democratic seat (SD-6, Willis Blackshear Jr.) is not up until 2028.
• Ohio House: Dayton-core HD-38 (Desiree Tims, D) is safe; HD-40 (Creech, R) leans Republican; the battlegrounds are HD-36, HD-37, and HD-39 (above).
• Judiciary: the 2nd District Court of Appeals seat is uncontested (Epley, R), but the Common Pleas bench has four contested seats.
• Levies: no city measures; the one live money question is an anticipated Dayton Public Schools operating levy (the board is choosing its form). The big county levies were recently renewed.

Why it matters

Dayton shows how a genuinely divided county can still produce lopsided top-line results when the map is drawn against the competitive areas: OH-10 sits safely Republican even though Montgomery County itself is closely split. The real contest lives one level down — the county board and the suburban statehouse seats, where the swing actually shows up.