2018 Ohio midterm elections

In the months leading up to the midterms, Ohio election officials tried to make their computer systems harder to hack.

They role-played how to handle cyberattacks and received help from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

They say last week’s vote went off without major cybersecurity problems. Now they have to prepare for an even bigger election—the 2020 presidential race.

The Green Party and the Libertarian Party of Ohio appear to be on the verge of no longer being recognized as minor parties, based on the results of last week’s vote and a state law from 2013.

Gov.-elect Mike DeWine and incoming Secretary of State Frank LaRose have announced their transition teams – the people who will help set policy, personnel and priorities for the next four years.

While Democrats saw big wins in other Midwest states, they were shut out of their statewide executive races in Ohio. Strategists say Ohio is one step closer to losing its swing state status.

This week’s election underscored some weaknesses for Ohio Democrats. The party’s candidates lost all of the statewide executive offices and gained seats but also lost some in the state House and Senate. This has left many wondering where Democrats in Ohio go from here. 

Sixth District GOP Congressman Andy Barr held off a challenge by first time candidate Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot. The three-term U.S. Representative admits divisiveness in politics needs attention.

“We are a people, who rose from the rugged pioneer spirit which built this country. And there is no reason why Kentuckians can't lead a political and spiritual renewal to go along with our nation’s economic revival,” Barr said.

Barr thanked McGrath for stiff competition, saying it made him a better leader and better Congressman. For her part, McGrath promised to remain an active voice in Kentucky.

Updated 3:10 p.m. ET

In an extraordinarily combative news conference Wednesday after voters delivered him a rebuke by giving control of the House to Democrats, President Trump went after Republicans, Democrats and the media.

He mocked Republican candidates who distanced themselves from him, chided a reporter for asking a "racist question" and walked away from the lectern at one point, as an aide tried to wrest a microphone out of a reporter's hands.

Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk whose refusal to sign marriage certificates for same-sex couples grabbed national headlines in 2015, has lost her bid for re-election to the Rowan County clerkship. The Republican lost to Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr., 54 percent to 46 percent.

With all 19 precincts reporting, preliminary results show Caudill earned 4,210 votes to Davis' 3,566.

With the polls closed across the state, the midterm election results are trickling in.

Among the first statewide contests to be decided is the race for Ohio’s United States Senate seat. 

Democratic two-term incumbent Sherrod Brown has won against GOP fourth-term Congressman Jim Renacci by a double-digit margin of around 14 points.

Renacci had campaigned with the support of President Donald Trump.

Voters in southwest Ohio’s Butler County who returned ballots in envelopes that didn’t have the correct information on them will get their votes counted anyway.