The Ohio Democratic Primary for Secretary of State

The Ohio Democratic Primary for Secretary of State

From The Confluence Cast by Tim Fulton

April 15, 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses the Democratic primary for Ohio Secretary of State and the candidates involved.

With petitions filed and the 2026 statewide races now officially underway, a lot of the attention is on the governor’s race — and understandably so — but there’s a primary happening further down the ballot that deserves a real look: the Democratic primary for Ohio Secretary of State. This is an office that most voters don’t spend much time thinking about, but it touches on some of the most consequential questions in Ohio politics right now — who draws the maps, how elections are run, who gets to vote, and who oversees campaign finance. For the past seven years, the office has been held by a Republican Secretary of State who drew significant criticism for his handling of ballot language, his role in redistricting fights, and his decision to withdraw Ohio from the ERIC voter data-sharing system. Democrats now have a real opportunity to win this seat — and two very different candidates are making the case for why they should be the one to do it. I sat down with both of them. Today, I’ll give a high-level overview of the candidates as a preview for their interviews. Shownotes Ohio Secretary of State Dr. Bryan Hambley Representative Allison Russo Full transcript on…

People in this episode

Host: Tim Fulton

Guests: Dr. Bryan Hambley, Representative Allison Russo

Topics covered

  • Ohio politics
  • Democratic primary
  • Secretary of State
  • elections
  • voter rights

Keywords

  • Ohio
  • Secretary of State
  • Democratic primary
  • elections
  • voter rights
  • campaign finance
  • redistricting

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ohio Secretary of State

Places: Ohio

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