Voters are going to the polls Tuesday in Ohio and Indiana — in the Buckeye State, they’ll be casting ballots in Senate, House and governor’s primary races, while Hoosiers will weigh in on House and state races. Indiana is heavily Republican, but President Trump will be keeping an eye on some of the state races there.
Here’s a look at some of the races to watch on Tuesday — with more on the reason for the president’s interest in some of Indiana’s state-level races:
Indiana
State senate races don’t normally attract the attention of a president — or ever.
“I am not aware of any point in time where a president cared at all about a state Senate race,” said Ball State University professor Chad Kinsella.
The Indiana races caught Mr. Trump’s eye last year when the state was considering redrawing its congressional map to favor Republicans in all nine of its districts. Currently, the state has a 7-2 split, with seven districts represented by Republicans and two by Democrats.
Although the White House pressed state lawmakers and legislators to back the redistricting, the state senators, who faced doxxing and threats of violence, resisted. Twenty-one Republicans bucked pressure from Mr. Trump and voted against the measure.
There is a staggered election system in Indiana, so 25 out of the 50 state senators are up for reelection on Tuesday. Of those 25, seven of the senators who voted against redistricting are running for reelection.
Mr. Trump and Indiana Gov. Mike Braun have endorsed primary challengers against those seven, as well as for an open seat. Along with the president’s endorsements came money from allied groups for the challengers, while in return, the Indiana Senate Republican Caucus has dumped more money into the race than was spent in all of 2022.
Indiana State University professor Matthew Bergbower noted that in his district, the only messaging he has seen for the Trump-backed challenger Brenda Wilson touts that endorsement, while state Sen. Greg Good has racked up endorsements from local organizations.
“I can’t get more of a local guy, from a campaign standpoint, looking to get a local candidate poster child than Greg Good versus the one-trick pony, nationalized candidate Trump endorsed and I would have done something differently on redistricting,” Bergbower said about the race.
Mr. Trump also wants to see state Sen. President Rodric Bray defeated, although Bray is not up for reelection until 2028. His leadership position could be in jeopardy if enough of the challengers win.
“It’s a Republican primary, so it’s an electorate that’s further to the right than your average voter,” Kinsella said. “But they may really want to help out President Trump as much as possible, but it’s that far down the ballot and things that are as connected to national politics. They might forget or may not take the time to see who Trump endorsed in this case, which might be their saving grace.”
Ohio Senate
Tuesday’s primary will set up a contest that could determine who controls the U.S. Senate, as Democrats seek a pick-up in the Buckeye State.
Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is pursuing a comeback bid after he lost reelection in 2024 to GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno. Brown is vying for the chance to take on Sen. John Husted, a former Ohio lieutenant governor who was appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat last year. First, Brown faces political newcomer Ron Kincaid on Tuesday.
Brown’s entrance into the race marked a key recruiting victory for Democrats. Though his bid for a fourth term in the Senate fell short in the last election, Brown lost by less than four percentage points in a state that President Trump won by more than 10. This time around, Democrats see an opportunity to flip the seat — with a well-known candidate and possible midterm momentum in their favor.
Ohio 9th District
Five candidates are facing off in the Republican primary in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District to challenge longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the November general election. Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the history of Congress, has held the seat since 1983.
The northwestern Ohio district was redrawn in October 2025, creating a more Republican-leaning district ahead of the midterms.
Kaptur narrowly won her 2024 reelection bid against Derek Merrin, a former state representative, in one of the most closely contested races that year. Merrin is seeking again to unseat Kaptur in what’s expected to be another tough contest for the Democratic congresswoman.
The other four GOP candidates include state Rep. Josh Williams, former Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official Madison Sheahan, health care data scientist Anthony Campbell and Air Force veteran Alea Nadeem.
Ohio governor’s race
Ohio’s two-term Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is term-limited and cannot run for reelection. Biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for president in 2020, has Mr. Trump’s endorsement and the Ohio Republican party to succeed him.
Ramaswamy has cleared most of the Republican primary field, with Attorney General Dave Yost dropping out of the race in May 2025, saying he faced a “vertical cliff” in challenging Ramaswamy, and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, a former Ohio State University football coach, opting not to run. A business owner who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Casey Putsch, remains in the race.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face Democrat Amy Acton, the state’s former director of public health, in November. She has no primary challengers.
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