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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Ohio Senate District 1

1 candidate, listed alphabetically.

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The job

A member of the Ohio Senate, elected for four years: “senators shall be elected to and hold office for terms of four years”, beginning the first day of January after the election (Article II, Section 2) [1]. The seat is term-limited — “No person shall hold the office of State Senator for a period of longer than two successive terms of four years” (Article II, Section 2) [1].

Where this office sits

  1. Federal
  2. State — this office
  3. County
  4. Local

A state office: its powers come from this state's own constitution and statutes.

What the job involves

  • Shares the legislative power with the voters, who kept a great deal of it: the power is vested in a general assembly, “but the people reserve to themselves the power to propose to the general assembly laws and amendments to the constitution, and to adopt or reject the same at the polls on a referendum vote”, including “any item in any law appropriating money” (Article II, Section 1) [1].
  • Convenes “in first regular session on the first Monday of January in the odd-numbered year … and in second regular session on the same date of the following year”, and may be called into special session by the governor or by the presiding officers acting jointly (Article II, Section 8) [1].
  • Passes a bill on “the concurrence of a majority of the members elected to each house”, after consideration on three different days unless two-thirds suspend the requirement — and every suspension is recorded in the journal (Article II, Section 15(A) and (C)) [1].
  • Cannot vote on what members have not seen: “No bill may be passed until the bill has been reproduced and distributed to members of the house in which it is pending and every amendment been made available upon a member's request” (Article II, Section 15(C)) [1].
  • Writes one subject at a time: “No bill shall contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title” (Article II, Section 15(D)) [1].
  • Overrides a veto at three-fifths of the members elected to each house — lower than most states (Article II, Section 16) [1].
  • Cannot appropriate beyond two years: “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, except in pursuance of a specific appropriation, made by law; and no appropriation shall be made for a longer period than two years” (Article II, Section 22) [1].
  • Can stop the Supreme Court's rules of practice and procedure, but only by acting: they take effect on July 1 “unless prior to such day the General Assembly adopts a concurrent resolution of disapproval” (Article IV, Section 5(B)) [1].
  • Sets what the elected executive officers actually do, since the auditor, treasurer, secretary of state and attorney general hold statutory rather than enumerated powers (Article III, Section 1) [1].
  • Confirms the governor's appointments where the law requires it, with no appointment consented to “without concurrence of a majority of the total number of Senators provided for by this Constitution” (Article III, Section 21) [1].

What the next officeholder will decide

The work waiting in the term being elected, from what the law puts in the job.

  • Two biennial budgets, inside the constitution's two-year appropriation limit [1].
  • Every veto, each undone by three-fifths of the members elected [1].
  • Whether to disapprove the Supreme Court's proposed rules before they take effect on July 1 [1].
  • What the statutory powers of Ohio's elected executive officers are [1].
  • A four-year term from January 2027, with at most one more after it [1].

Worth asking a candidate

Ours, not a questionnaire anyone answered. They come from what the job actually involves.

  • Ohio voters can repeal a law you pass, and even a single appropriation item, by referendum. How does that shape what you would vote for?
  • A three-fifths override is a low bar. Does the governor's veto constrain this legislature at all?
  • No appropriation may run longer than two years. Is that a discipline or an obstacle?
  • The Supreme Court's rules become law unless you stop them. Has the General Assembly used that well?
  • Which committee would you seek, and what does it decide?

Sources for the job

  1. Ohio Constitution — Article II, Section 16 (veto), Article III (executive) and Article IV (judicial) (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules, Legislative Service Commission, Public record)

Where this office sits in state government

State Senator is one of 8 elected offices in this part of the drawing. The 4 handoffs it is part of are drawn below and written out underneath.

StateRepresentative State Senator Governor Secretaryof State AttorneyGeneral Treasurerof State Auditorof State Justice of theSupreme Court Counties, cities, townsand school districts 1 2 3 4 They write the law and the budgetThey handle the money, the law and the electionsThey decide what the law meansWho the law lands on
How Ohio's state government fits together. Not every office here is on this year's ballot, and each box leads to what that office does. The particulars — how a veto is overridden, how long a session runs — are on each office's own page, quoted from this state's constitution.

State Representative

A member of the lower chamber of the state legislature, which writes state law and the state budget.

A member of the Ohio House of Representatives: “Representatives shall be elected biennially by the electors of the respective house of representatives districts; their term of office shall commence on the first day of January next thereafter and continue two years” (Article II, Section 2). No one may hold the office “for a period longer than four successive terms of two years” (Article II, Section 2).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • To State Senator: A bill has to pass both chambers in the same form before it can reach the governor, so one chamber's vote only gets it halfway. In most states a bill that raises revenue has to start in the lower chamber.

State Senator

A member of the upper chamber of the state legislature. A bill has to pass both chambers.

A member of the Ohio Senate, elected for four years: “senators shall be elected to and hold office for terms of four years”, beginning the first day of January after the election (Article II, Section 2). The seat is term-limited — “No person shall hold the office of State Senator for a period of longer than two successive terms of four years” (Article II, Section 2).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From State Representative: A bill has to pass both chambers in the same form before it can reach the governor, so one chamber's vote only gets it halfway. In most states a bill that raises revenue has to start in the lower chamber.
  • To Governor: What both chambers pass goes to the governor to sign or veto. The share of each chamber needed to override a veto is set by this state's own constitution and is on the legislature's office page.
  • To Counties, cities, towns and school districts: The legislature writes the property tax, local tax and budget rules that every county, city, town and school district in the state has to work inside. A local council choosing a rate is choosing among options set here.
  • From Justice of the Supreme Court: A state supreme court has the last word on what the state's own constitution and statutes mean. A law the legislature passes and the governor signs can still be struck down here, and in most states only an amendment undoes that.

Governor

The state's chief executive. Signs or vetoes what the legislature passes, and runs the state agencies.

Ohio's chief executive: “The supreme executive power of this state shall be vested in the governor”, who “shall see that the laws are faithfully executed” (Article III, Sections 5 and 6). Four years, and “No person shall hold the office of governor for a period longer than two successive terms of four years” (Article III, Section 2). The veto is weaker here than in most states: three-fifths of each chamber undoes it (Article II, Section 16).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From State Senator: What both chambers pass goes to the governor to sign or veto. The share of each chamber needed to override a veto is set by this state's own constitution and is on the legislature's office page.
  • To Attorney General: The state's lawyer is elected separately in most states, so the governor cannot pick or remove the person who decides which laws to defend, which cases to bring, and which opinions to issue. Where the office is appointed instead, that page says so.
  • To Secretary of State: In most states this is the chief election official, elected on the same ballot it administers and not answerable to the governor. A few states put elections elsewhere; that office's page says which.
  • To Treasurer of State: The governor proposes a budget and the legislature appropriates, but the money itself sits with a separately elected treasurer. What that office may do with it is set by this state's own law.
  • To Auditor of State: The officer who examines the state's spending is elected in their own right, so an administration cannot remove the person auditing it. That independence is the point of electing the office rather than appointing it. Some states call it auditor, some comptroller; this state's box says which.
  • To Counties, cities, towns and school districts: State agencies under the governor license, inspect, fund and audit the counties, cities and school districts below. Much of what a local government can do in practice depends on a state agency's rules.

Secretary of State

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2).

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2). The constitution names two duties here, both about the record: countersigning every grant and commission the state issues, and receiving the bills a governor signs, lets become law unsigned, or files objections to (Article III, Section 13; Article II, Section 16). Ohio's elections sit here by statute.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: In most states this is the chief election official, elected on the same ballot it administers and not answerable to the governor. A few states put elections elsewhere; that office's page says which.

Attorney General

The state's lawyer: brings and defends the state's cases, and advises its agencies.

Ohio's elected chief legal officer, one of the six officers of the executive department, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2). The constitution makes the office elective and leaves what it does to statute — which is why its reach over consumer protection, charities, local prosecutions and state litigation is a legislative question rather than a constitutional one.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: The state's lawyer is elected separately in most states, so the governor cannot pick or remove the person who decides which laws to defend, which cases to bring, and which opinions to issue. Where the office is appointed instead, that page says so.

Treasurer of State

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2).

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2). The constitution makes the office elective and leaves its duties to statute, which is where the state's banking, investment and debt work sits.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: The governor proposes a budget and the legislature appropriates, but the money itself sits with a separately elected treasurer. What that office may do with it is set by this state's own law.

Auditor of State

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2).

One of Ohio's six elected executive officers, serving four years and limited to two successive terms (Article III, Sections 1 and 2). Ohio's auditor examines not only the state but the thousands of local governments and school districts beneath it, under statutes the General Assembly writes — which makes this the office most Ohioans' local government actually hears from.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: The officer who examines the state's spending is elected in their own right, so an administration cannot remove the person auditing it. That independence is the point of electing the office rather than appointing it. Some states call it auditor, some comptroller; this state's box says which.

Justice of the Supreme Court

A seat on a seven-member court that Ohio's voters elect statewide: “The chief justice and the justices of the Supreme Court shall be elected by the electors of the state at large, for terms of not less than six years” (Article IV, Section 6(A)(1)). This is not a retention vote — it is a contested election for a six-year term on the court that has the last word on Ohio's own constitution, with “general superintendence over all courts in the state” (Article IV, Section 5(A)(1)).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • To State Senator: A state supreme court has the last word on what the state's own constitution and statutes mean. A law the legislature passes and the governor signs can still be struck down here, and in most states only an amendment undoes that.

Counties, cities, towns and school districts

Every local government in the state. None of them can tax or spend outside what the legislature allows.

Elected separately, each at its own level.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From State Senator: The legislature writes the property tax, local tax and budget rules that every county, city, town and school district in the state has to work inside. A local council choosing a rate is choosing among options set here.
  • From Governor: State agencies under the governor license, inspect, fund and audit the counties, cities and school districts below. Much of what a local government can do in practice depends on a state agency's rules.

Every office drawn here has its full description, quoted from Ohio's own constitution with sources, on its race pages.

Candidates

Craig Riedel

Republican

We haven't found a sourced summary for Craig Riedel yet.

Where we looked:

  • 2026 Ohio Senate election (Wikipedia): each party's primary section named its nominee. It gives the name, party and district and no account of the candidate's record. Ohio's election office refuses automated requests, so no official candidate list could be read for this seat.

That is where we have looked so far, not everywhere there is to look. If you know Craig Riedel's work or background, tell us — we'd rather print it than leave it blank.

Sources

Candidate list and race details

What's included
U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: voterlookup.ohiosos.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.