By Rieley McDonnell, Staff Writer 

The Democratic Party won eight of Ohio’s 15 U.S. congressional seats in the midterm election, marking an unexpected victory in the state. 

Democrats started the night with five seats, making a net gain of three seats, according to AP News. The districts that flipped from red to blue are Ohio’s 7th, 10th and 15th. 

Additionally, the Democrats held onto three seats that were expected to flip to the Republican Party (GOP) because of the new electoral map used in this election cycle. The new Congressional map redrew Ohio’s 1st, 9th and 13th Districts.  

According to ABC News 5, a local station in Cleveland, Ohio, in the old congressional map the 9th and 13th Districts leaned Republican but were held by Democrats while the 1st District leaned Democratic. The new map incorporated more Republican voters into those districts. If these redistricted seats had flipped red and the GOP held onto all their current seats, the Republicans would have held 13 of Ohio’s 15 Congressional seats. 

“The redistricting did not end up going in the favor of the Republicans,” junior Philosophy, Politics and the Public major and constituent of Ohio’s 5th District Isabella Barb said. “All of those districts ended up regaining their seats like Greg Landsman and Emilia Sykes.”  

Rep. Landsman represents Ohio’s 1st District, which encompasses Cincinnati, and Rep. Sykes represents Ohio’s 13th District.  

The Democratic Party also saw a win in the special election for Vice President JD Vance’s vacated Senate seat. Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his seat in the 2024 election, won the contest against appointed incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted.  

His projected victory has helped the Democratic Party gain a projected majority in the U.S. Senate, which is currently sitting at 54 seats. Two Senate races remain without a projected winner, one in Mississippi and the other in Alaska. 

State level races saw many Democrats win positions currently held by the GOP. The gubernatorial race went to Gov.-elect Dr. Amy Acton, who beat her Republican opponent, Vivek Ramashamy.  

Her win marks the first time that Ohioans have elected a female governor. Ohio’s first female governor, Republican Nancy P. Hollister, served an 11-day term in 1994 after the Gov. George Voinovich abdicated to serve in the Senate. 

The Ohio Secretary of State and Treasurer races have both been called in favor of the Democratic Party and the Attorney General race remains close, though the Democrat is leading. Treasurer-elect Seth Walsh formerly served on Cincinnati City Council and is a graduate of Xavier. 

The only race to go for the GOP is an auditor, where current Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is projected to win against his Democratic opponent Annette Blackwell. 

Democrats also made some headway in the Ohio House of Representatives, breaking the Republican supermajority. The GOP has maintained a supermajority, 60 or more seats, in the Statehouse for 13 years.  

“For Republicans in Ohio, it’s not the end of the world since they maintain majorities in the Statehouse and Senate,” Dr Mack Mariani said. Dr. Mariani is a professor of political science and Executive Director of the Stephen S. Smith Center. “But they no longer have a supermajority and will have to negotiate with Governor Acton to get anything done.” 

While this is a large turnover for the GOP and a win for the Democratic Party, this outcome is not unprecedented.  

“Midterm elections typically go badly for the party in power, and they are particularly vulnerable when the president has low approval ratings,” Mariani said. “The only question going into the election was how bad it would be for the Republican Party.” 

News outlets across the U.S. claimed that the “blue tsunami” was a reaction to the Trump administration. According to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos just before election day, Trump’s approval rating sat at 32%.

“The people came out to vote for change because they were unhappy with the current administration,” Barb said. “The people who you are voting for matters, and the Republicans attempt to gerrymander their way to winning did not take into account that voters do not want to see corruption.”