The 2022 Ohio gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Ohio. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike DeWine won a second term in a landslide, defeating Democratic nominee Nan Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton, with 62.4% of the vote. DeWine's 25-point victory marked the continuation of a trend in which every incumbent Republican governor of Ohio since 1994 has won re-election by a double-digit margin.
This was the first time since 1994 in which Trumbull and Mahoning counties have gone to the Republican candidate with over 60% of the vote. Hamilton County also voted Republican in a statewide election for the first time since Ohio's 2016 United States Senate election, which incumbent Republican Rob Portman also won by over 20 points and nearly 60% of the vote.
Incumbent governor Mike DeWine faced backlash from Republicans due to having implemented strict COVID-19 restrictions, such as a statewide stay at home order and mask mandates. Due to this, on April 30, 2021, farmer Joe Blystone became the first candidate to announce a primary challenge to DeWine. On June 9, former U.S. representative Jim Renacci also announced a run, later being followed up by former state representative Ron Hood. As a result, DeWine became the first incumbent Ohio governor to face a primary challenger since Jim Rhodes in 1978 and the first to have multiple challengers since Michael Disalle in 1962. Initial polling showed Renacci in the lead; however, his lead soon evaporated, as DeWine attempted to appeal to conservatives angry with his COVID-19 response by attacking President Joe Biden's policies and signing constitutional carry into law, allowing permitless carry of firearms. Incumbent governors rarely ever lose their primaries. Ultimately, DeWine prevailed in the primary election on May 3; however, he only won with a plurality of the vote, which suggests that he could have lost had his opponents not split the vote.
Graphical summary<br />
Aggregate polls<br />
Graphical summary<br />
Mike DeWine vs. John Cranley<br />
According to a survey conducted by NORC for Fox News and the Associated Press, most white people (68% to 32%), Latinos (64% to 33%), and other minorities (60% to 36%) voted for DeWine, while most African Americans voted for Whaley (73% to 27%).
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
DeWine won 13 of 15 congressional districts, including three that elected Democrats.
Voter demographic data was collected by CNN. The voter survey is based on exit polls. There were 3,772 total respondents.
Partisan clients<br />
Official campaign websites