Seneca County voters head to the polls Tuesday for a primary election with consequential races at every level — from the State Representative seat that covers Tiffin to a wide-open governor’s race and four contested statewide Republican primaries.

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. The Seneca County Board of Elections is at 71 S. Washington St. in Tiffin. Voters who haven’t cast an early ballot can verify their polling location and view their precinct ballot through TiffinOhio.net’s 2026 Primary Election Voter Guide.

Here are the top races to watch.

Ohio House District 88 — Republican primary

Three-term Republican State Rep. Gary Click of Vickery faces a primary challenge from Tiffin entrepreneur Eric Watson in a race that has drawn substantial outside spending. Click is term-limited after this cycle and is seeking his fourth and final two-year term.

The American Conservative Fund — a super PAC whose only stated income through the end of 2025 came from a $500,000 transfer from Win For America, which itself reported $2 million from DraftKings parent DK Crown Holdings — has spent roughly $190,000 in the District 88 race, according to Cleveland.com reporting. The ads have promoted Watson and attacked Click, who is a primary sponsor of legislation to ban mobile sports betting prop and parlay bets.

Days before the primary, Ohio Gun Owners downgraded Click from a C-minus to an F rating, citing what the organization characterized as unreturned campaign contributions from gun-control lobbyists. Watson holds the organization’s top non-incumbent “Aq” rating.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face Tiffin City Councilman and Army veteran Aaron Jones, the only Democrat on the District 88 ballot, in the November general election.

Seneca County Commissioner — Republican primary

Republican incumbent Bill Frankart faces Clinton Township Trustee Jim Distel in a primary shaped by Frankart’s handling of the Seneca Poultry concentrated animal feeding operation in Bloom Township. Frankart, elected commissioner in November 2022, was the subject of a public correction by the Seneca Conservation District after he incorrectly told voters the facility was locally monitored; the conservation district publicly clarified that the facility falls under exclusive Ohio Department of Agriculture jurisdiction.

Distel told the Advertiser-Tribune he had heard from residents who felt dismissed when raising concerns about the operation and pledged not to approach decisions with a predetermined outcome.

No Democrat filed for the seat, meaning Tuesday’s winner will run unopposed in November.

Governor — Republican primary

Five statewide executive offices are open in 2026 because every current Republican holder is term-limited — a once-in-a-generation reshuffle that has produced contested primaries up and down the ballot.

The marquee race is the open governor’s primary. Tech entrepreneur and former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, running with Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, holds the Ohio Republican Party endorsement and an endorsement from President Donald Trump. He is the heavy frontrunner.

Tiffin native Casey Putsch, founder of the Genius Garage nonprofit, is running with Warren County Republican Central Committee member Kimberly Georgeton.

A third ticket — former Morgan County School Board member Heather Hill and Stuart Moats — will appear on the ballot but cannot receive valid votes. After Moats filed paperwork on April 22 to formally withdraw, the Secretary of State’s office determined Hill no longer qualified to receive votes for governor under Ohio Revised Code 3513.30. Ohio’s 88 county boards of elections have been instructed to post notice at polling places that votes for the Hill/Moats ticket are void.

Former Ohio Department of Health director Dr. Amy Acton, running with former Ohio Democratic Party chair David Pepper, is unopposed on the Democratic ticket and advances to the November general election.

Secretary of State — both parties

Both major parties have contested primaries for the office that oversees Ohio elections.

On the Republican side, term-limited Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague faces retired Air Force Lt. Col. Marcell Strbich. Sprague holds the Ohio Republican Party endorsement and the backing of most county GOPs. Strbich, an election-integrity activist who endorsed Watson in the District 88 primary, has secured backing from conservative groups including Ohio Value Voters. Both candidates have called for moving Ohio away from electronic-only voting machines, but Strbich’s proposal would require hand-marked paper ballots; Sprague’s would accept ballots produced by ballot-marking devices.

On the Democratic side, former Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo faces Cincinnati blood cancer physician Bryan Hambley. The Ohio Democratic Party did not endorse in the race. Russo led Hambley 32% to 8% with 60% undecided in a Bowling Green State University poll released in mid-April. Hambley has criticized Russo for her 2023 vote on the Ohio Redistricting Commission to approve current state legislative maps and for accepting corporate PAC money during her tenure as legislative leader. Russo has pointed to her experience and to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce’s endorsement of her bid.

Treasurer of State — Republican primary

State Sen. Kristina Roegner of Hudson faces former state Rep. Jay Edwards of Nelsonville in a Republican primary that has split the GOP’s national leadership. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno endorsed Edwards. Ramaswamy and most of the legislature’s Republican leadership endorsed Roegner. The Ohio Republican Party declined to endorse in the race.

Roegner, a Wharton School graduate and former corporate finance consultant, has emphasized fiscal discipline and her current legislative experience. Edwards, a former House Finance Committee chair, has run on his familiarity with the state budget and has signed petitions for a constitutional amendment to abolish Ohio’s property taxes.

Cincinnati City Councilmember Seth Walsh is unopposed on the Democratic side and advances to November.

Ohio Supreme Court — Republican primary

Four Republicans are competing for the GOP nomination to challenge Justice Jennifer Brunner, the only Democrat on the seven-member Ohio Supreme Court. The candidates are Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Andrew King, Ninth District Court of Appeals Judge Jill Flagg Lanzinger, Second District Court of Appeals Judge Ronald Lewis, and former Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Colleen O’Donnell. The Ohio Republican Party did not endorse in this race.

O’Donnell was the subject of a judicial campaign grievance filed in March alleging she violated rules governing how judicial candidates may use the title “judge” after she reposted an Ohio Value Voters endorsement that referred to her as a sitting judge. The case proceeded after a panel of appeals court judges found probable cause.

The winner faces Brunner, unopposed on the Democratic ballot, in November. The other Supreme Court seat features Republican Justice Daniel Hawkins against Democratic First District Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas; both are unopposed in their primaries.

Ohio’s 9th Congressional District — Republican primary

Five Republicans are competing for the right to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the longest-serving woman in congressional history. The district now leans Republican under maps the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved in October 2025.

The candidates are former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who lost to Kaptur by roughly 2,300 votes in 2024; Ohio House Majority Whip Josh Williams of Sylvania Township; former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan; Air National Guard Lt. Col. Alea Nadeem; and health care industry worker Anthony Campbell.

The race has been roiled by a series of damaging headlines targeting Merrin, Williams, and Sheahan in the closing weeks of the campaign. Reporting by the Toledo Blade tied a website attacking Williams to digital fingerprints linked to a consultant paid by the Merrin campaign. Williams faces continuing scrutiny over sexually explicit Facebook posts first surfaced by The Rooster in 2023. Sheahan has denied an April allegation by a former Trump campaign worker about a past relationship.

Ohio’s 5th Congressional District — Democratic primary

Four Democrats are competing for the chance to challenge Republican Rep. Bob Latta in a district that includes Seneca County and stretches across Crawford, Hancock, Huron, Lorain, Sandusky, parts of Richland, Wood, and Wyandot. Latta is unopposed on the Republican ballot and was reelected in 2024 with 67.5% of the vote.

The Democratic candidates are Daniel John Burket of Findlay, a small-business owner and Hancock County Developmental Disabilities board president; Martin M. Heberling III, a Lorain City Schools teacher and former Amherst at-large councilman who ran for the seat in 2022; Brian A. Shaver of Fostoria, a Fostoria City Schools social studies teacher and Fostoria City Council president; and Scott E. Tabor, a retired Local 33 sheet metal worker.

U.S. Senate — Democratic primary

Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown faces Ron Kincaid in the Democratic primary for the unexpired Senate term ending Jan. 3, 2029 — the seat vacated when JD Vance became Vice President in January 2025 and currently held by appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is unopposed in the GOP primary. Brown is seeking a return to the Senate after losing his 2024 reelection bid to Bernie Moreno.

Voter information

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Voters in line at 7:30 p.m. are entitled to cast their ballot. Ohio voters must present an unexpired photo ID, and Ohio primaries are open — voters do not need to be registered with a political party in advance to choose a partisan ballot. Voters may also request a nonpartisan ballot to vote on local issues only.

The Seneca County Board of Elections is located at 71 S. Washington St. in Tiffin. Voters with questions about polling locations or registration status can contact the Board of Elections directly.