Retiring Guy's Digest: Flipping the House and flipping off Trump: Democratic challenger Don Leonard defeats 3-term incumbent Republican Mike Carey in Ohio 15th congressional district

Friday, November 6, 2026

Flipping the House and flipping off Trump: Democratic challenger Don Leonard defeats 3-term incumbent Republican Mike Carey in Ohio 15th congressional district

GOP candidates won the district by an average of 18 percentage points in the past 3 elections. Then came the Blue Wave!

Election results: Ballotpedia, New York Times

Headline: WOSU, 11/3/2026

George Shillcock reports:

Democrat Don Leonard pulled off an upset against Republican Congressman Mike Carey in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District Tuesday evening.

The Associated Press projected Leonard beat Carey to win his first full term in Congress. Unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s website show Leonard leading with 52% of the vote compared to 45% for Carey as of 10:49 p.m with 85% of precincts reporting.

Libertarian Brennan Barrington got less than 3% of the vote.

The Cook Political Report rated the race as “lean Republican” ahead of the election. The district, while redrawn in 2022 and 2026, has consistently elected Republicans in the last two decades.

Ohio’s 15th Congressional District covers southwestern Franklin County parts of Clark, Pickaway and Miami counties and all of Fayette, Highland and Madison counties.

Ohio GOP gerrymander:

Packing Columbus and Franklin County