Pink Rose Society

Toledo 2026 Elections

The local layer of a Toledo voter's November 3, 2026 ballot, beneath the statewide slate. As in the other big Ohio cities, there is no city race in 2026 — Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz was re-elected in November 2025 to a historic third term (a 2024 charter amendment lifted the two-term limit), and the 12-member council was decided the same night; both are next up in 2029.

Lucas County is solidly Democratic, so nearly the entire 2026 county ballot is a safe-D hold. The story here is the opposite of Cincinnati's: almost no local suspense, with the real drama concentrated in one federal seat and one open statehouse district.

The two races that matter

  • Ohio's 9th Congressional District (2026) — Marcy Kaptur (D) vs. Derek Merrin (R), a rematch of the 2024 near-tie (0.32%). The 2025 remap pushed the Toledo-anchored district to roughly Trump+11, rating it Lean Republican — the marquee contest, and the clearest local case of a map drawn against an incumbent.
  • Ohio House District 44 2026 — an open seat (Republican Josh Williams left it to run for OH-9) covering South/East Toledo plus northern Wood and Ottawa counties: David Fournier (D) vs. Edward Schimmel (R). The one genuinely competitive statehouse race in the county.

The rest of the ballot (nearly all safe Democratic)

  • Ohio Senate: SD-11 — Paula Hicks-Hudson (D, a former Toledo mayor), safe.
  • Ohio House: Toledo-core seats HD-41, 42 (no Republican filed), 43 — all Democratic. HD-44 (above) is the exception.
  • County: one commissioner seat (Lisa Sobecki, D) and County Auditor (Katie Moline, D) — both safe, facing only write-in-nominated challengers. Other row offices are on the 2028 cycle.
  • Judiciary: the 6th District Court of Appeals has a contested seat and — quietly — an open Democratic-held seat a Republican is taking uncontested. The Common Pleas bench has a couple of contested divisions.
  • Levies: no city measures; the certified 2026 questions so far are suburban school levies (Sylvania, Maumee). A Toledo Public Schools levy is anticipated amid a ~$68M deficit and school closures, but was not certified as of mid-2026.

Why it matters

Toledo is the mirror image of a swing county: a place where general elections are largely settled and the democratic contest lives in primaries and in the handful of seats the maps or retirements leave open. The most consequential decision on the ballot — Kaptur's seat — turns less on Toledo's own politics than on lines drawn in Columbus.

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