2016 Ohio Senate election

The 2016 Ohio Senate election was held on November 8, 2016, to determine which party would control the Ohio Senate for the following two years in the 132nd Ohio General Assembly. The 16 even numbered seats out of the 33 seats in the Ohio Senate were up for election and the primary was held on March 15, 2016. Prior to the election, 23 seats were held by Republicans and 10 seats were held by Democrats. The general election saw Republicans expanding their majority in the State Senate by a single seat.^[1][2]

2016 Ohio Senate election

← 2014 November 8, 2016 2018 →
16 out of 33 seats in the Ohio Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Keith Faber (term-limited) Joe Schiavoni Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 7, 2013 January 14, 2014 Leader's seat District 12 District 33 Last election 23 10 Seats after 24 9 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,633,059 821,822 Percentage 66.52% 33.48%
President of the Senate before election Keith Faber Republican Elected President of the Senate Larry Obhof Republican

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[3]	Likely R	October 12, 2016

Retirements

Democrats

1. District 28: Thomas Sawyer was term-limited.
2. District 32: Capri Cafaro was term-limited.

Republicans

1. District 8: Bill Seitz was term-limited.
2. District 12: Keith Faber was term-limited.
3. District 16: Jim Hughes was term-limited.
4. District 24: Tom Patton was term-limited.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 30, 5.80% (gain)

Results

District 2

District 2 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Randy Gardner (incumbent)	118,232	66.38%
	Democratic	Kirk Halliday	59,882	33.62%
Total votes			178,114	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 4

District 4 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Coley (incumbent)	105,810	67.66%
	Democratic	John Kinne	50,580	32.34%
Total votes			156,390	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 6

District 6 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Peggy Lehner (incumbent)	114,168	68.06%
	Democratic	Albert Griggs	53,584	31.94%
Total votes			167,752	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 8

District 8 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Louis Terhar	106,215	62.88%
	Democratic	Mary Rose Lierman	62,693	37.12%
Total votes			168,908	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 10

District 10 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Hackett (incumbent)	99,477	65.14%
	Democratic	Matthew Kirk	53,239	34.86%
Total votes			152,716	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 12

District 12 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Huffman	120,090	100.0%
Total votes			120,090	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 14

District 14 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joe Uecker (incumbent)	112,706	71.91%
	Democratic	Charlie Carlier	44,014	28.09%
Total votes			156,720	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 16

District 16 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephanie Kunze	109,454	58.99%
	Democratic	Cathy Johnson	76,077	41.01%
Total votes			185,531	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 18

District 18 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Eklund (incumbent)	107,972	65.27%
	Democratic	Wiley Runnestrand	57,446	34.73%
Total votes			165,418	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 20

District 20 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Troy Balderson (incumbent)	111,883	100.0%
Total votes			111,883	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 22

District 22 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Larry Obhof (incumbent)	113,666	69.78%
	Democratic	Christopher King	49,218	30.22%
Total votes			162,884	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 24

District 24 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Dolan	107,500	58.14%
	Democratic	Emily Hagan	77,383	41.86%
Total votes			184,883	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 26

District 26 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Burke (incumbent)	107,351	100.0%
Total votes			107,351	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 28

District 28 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Vernon Sykes	83,805	61.21%
	Republican	Jonathan Schulz	53,117	38.79%
Total votes			136,922	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 30

District 30 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Frank Hoagland	84,747	52.90%
	Democratic	Lou Gentile (incumbent)	75,450	47.10%
Total votes			160,197	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 32

District 32 election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sean O'Brien	78,451	56.39%
	Republican	Robert Allen	60,671	43.61%
Total votes			139,122	100.0%
	Democratic hold