Pink Rose Society

Ohio 15th Congressional District 2026

The only Columbus-area U.S. House seat with any competitive texture. OH-15 takes the parts of Franklin County outside OH-3 — Grove City, Hilliard, Dublin — and fans out west and south into suburban and rural counties between Columbus and Dayton.

The matchup

  • Republican: Mike Carey (incumbent), re-elected 2024 with about 56.5%.
  • Democratic: Don Leonard, who won the May 2026 primary over former state representative Adam Miller.
  • Also on the ballot: Brennan Barrington (L) and Samuel Ronan (write-in).
  • Election: November 3, 2026.

State of the race

  • Lean: Cook PVI R+4, a shift from R+6 — the 2025 remap made OH-15 modestly more competitive even as it made other seats redder, because the district picked up more Democratic-leaning inner-suburban Franklin County turf.
  • Still Republican-favored with an entrenched incumbent: a seat to watch rather than a true toss-up.

Why it matters

OH-15 is the local counterweight to the packing in OH-3 — the suburban ring is where Franklin County's real partisan competition lives. A single-digit PVI and an incumbent under 60% make it the one Columbus-anchored congressional seat where a strong Democratic year could matter. The map's marquee targets, though, remain OH-1 and OH-9, not this one.

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