The 2022 midterm elections kicked off with primaries in Texas on March 1, 2022. Additional high-profile primary elections will be held throughout the summer in Governor and Senate races in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, North Carolina and beyond. Those contests will tee up Election Day on November 8, when control of the U.S. House and Senate will be up for grabs as well as several high-profile gubernatorial races in key battleground states.

Ten states in particular will play a significant role in deciding the balance of the U.S. House and Senate and shaping the map of governorships going forward.

• Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania are home to targeted U.S. Senate and House and Governors races.
• Kansas has targeted House and Governors races.
• New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin each have targeted Senate and Governors races.
• In North Carolina, there will be a high-profile, open seat election for Senate as well as targeted House races.

McGuireWoods Consulting is carefully watching the primary election results in these 10 states and will capture the significance of the results as the elections unfold on our website and social media channels.

Ohio Midterm Results Update

Last week’s results in Ohio provide an interesting window into the minds of voters going into the midterm elections. The most marquee and profiled race was the Republican primary for U.S. Senate where former author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance was elected as the Republican nominee. Vance won a plurality of voters with strongholds in the rural and suburban parts of the state. Notably, he received the backing of former President Donald Trump and was supported by a large outside effort financed by Peter Thiel. Both Trump and the financial backing of Theil are factors to watch going forward in Republican primaries. Gov. Mike DeWine held off interparty challenges from his right flank.

The Democratic side saw wins for the establishment wing of the party as populist candidate Congressman Tim Ryan easily won the Democratic Senate primary. He won every county in Ohio and held off challenges from the more progressive wings. In the gubernatorial race, former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley received from the nod from Ohio Democrats, dominating her opponent in every area of the state except the Cincinnati suburbs and the counties surrounding Toledo. Also of note was the win by Congresswoman Shontel Brown over former Bernie Sanders presidential campaign Chair Nina Turner. Establishment Democrats flooded the zone to support the sitting Congresswoman and ensure that Rep. Brown would have the resources to win.

The results point to a general election in Ohio that will be heavily contested and centered on populist rhetoric as well as the policies of the Trump and Biden Administrations.