Voting begins Wednesday in Ohio primary

(The Center Square) – Early voting for the March 19 primary begins Wednesday.

Voting begins by mail-in absentee ballot and in person Wednesday at the 88 county boards of election across the state.

An early look at the presidential primary

Republicans and Democrats will pick a presidential nominee, although the most recent polls show those races are not expected to be close.

According to a Morning Consult poll from Jan. 23-Feb. 4, former President Donald Trump holds an 83%-16% lead over Nikki Haley, the former governor in South Carolina and United Nations ambassador.

Voters will also decide on a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate

The most significant statewide race comes in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate between businessman Bernie Moreno, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan.

The winner will try to unseat long-time Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in November.

As previously reported by The Center Square, after Trump endorsed Moreno in January, the Cleveland businessman led the race, according to an early February poll.

The Emerson College poll showed Moreno with 22% support, ahead of LaRose’s 21% and Dolan’s 15%. But 42% of those asked were undecided.

The poll surveyed 1,844 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.

Ohio Supreme Court seats on the ballot

Also on the primary ballot are three seats for the Ohio Supreme Court, but only one will be contested in the primary.

Lisa Forbes and Terri Jamison are running to be the Democratic nominee to fill one of the three open spots. The other two seats have only one Democrat and one Republican on the primary ballot.

Local ballots will also include races for the state House and Senate, municipal government positions and local ballot measures.

The primary kicked off in early February when boards of election began sending out military and overseas ballots to voters.

This story was originally published February 20, 2024 at 4:26 PM.