The midterm elections often go well for the party not in power. With that and low approval ratings for President Trump, political analysts are predicting a blue wave across the country this fall. And Ohio Democrats are hoping they can also make inroads in rural areas to try to win in November.
The party’s rural caucus recently put out a report on findings from community meetings in small towns and agricultural areas throughout Ohio. And they hope it will show them the way.
Ohio is solidly red now, but Dale Butland remembers when it was all blue. He worked for Democrats as a strategist back in their heyday in the 70’s and 80’s when they controlled state government, and spent 20 years working with the late John Glenn, the astronaut turned US Senator. In his new book, "When Ohio Was Blue: My 20 Year Journey with John Glenn," Butland called Ohio "Mississippi North".
“Republicans control every office in the state except for one seat on the Supreme Court. Every executive office, both [U.S.] Senate seats, a majority in the Congressional delegation—all but one on the Supreme Court. It mirrors basically what Ohio was back in the late 1970s and all of the 1980s when I was active with people like [U.S. Sens.] John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum. We were a blue state," Butland said in an interview. "Now we are as red as we were blue back then. And when Mike DeWine completes his last term as governor now, it’s hard to believe, but Republicans will have controlled the government for 32 of the last 36 years."
Democrats know they have lost ground in rural Ohio, and in smaller towns that swung between blue and red in the 90s. For instance, 47 of the three-member county commissions in Ohio were bipartisan in 1995—many of those in rural Ohio. By 2025, only three county commissions in the state were bipartisan, and four were composed of only Democrats, in the solidly blue counties of Lucas, Franklin, Hamilton and Athens. The remaining 79 county commissions were all occupied by Republicans. (Note: Cuyahoga and Summit Counties don't have the traditional three-member commission and are instead run by a county executive and council.)
The Ohio Democratic Party has established a rural caucus that’s working on building relationships in those small towns and areas outside the urban areas of the state.
Shelby County Democratic Party chair and farmer Chris Gibbs leads that caucus. He's the former Republican Party chair in Shelby County. Last fall, he held meetings every Saturday in agricultural communities as part of a listening tour. Gibbs said there were some common themes, such as honesty, integrity, hard work and commitment to public service.
Gibbs said the caucus used those findings to come up with a report with recommendations for Democratic politicians trying to reach rural voters. He said it’s important to lead with presence, not policy.
“Right or wrong, the Democrat Party brand has had some difficulty, particularly in rural Ohio and rural America as well," Gibbs said. "So when you come into an area, you have to first gain a trust that these voters share your values because at the end of the day, these are values voters.”
Gibbs said Democrats have a lot of shared values with people who live in rural Ohio, like concerns about things like working conditions, taxes and family policies. But he said Democrats often make the mistake of not talking about those values as much as policies based on them. This year, Gibbs said he hopes Democratic candidates will message differently.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton has been trying to do that by talking to farm families, and especially women.
“I’ve specifically spent time at kitchen tables with women in agriculture. They own farms that are shared farms. They do the books on farms. They’re talking about costs," Acton said. "It turns out the cost of health care that somebody asked for a second job off the farm just to have health insurance."
But it might be a hard sell for some small-town or rural voters. Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been speaking to farmers, especially on property taxes. Ramaswamy said he has a plan to alleviate some of farmers' property tax burden, and wants to roll back property taxes to pre-pandemic levels. He said his audiences in farming communities have told him they’ll continue to support the GOP and him too.
"I’m honored to have the support of Ohio’s grain farmers, our corn and wheat farmers who made the first endorsement they’ve made the first endorsement they’ve made in over thirty years for a gubernatorial candidate, and I think that speaks volumes," Ramaswamy said.
Tony Shroeder is the chair of the Putnam County Republican Party. He said he thinks Democrats are smart to try to engage differently, but he says it comes down to one thing.
“What they are missing is they don’t live here anymore," Schroeder said. "If you look at voter registration and voter turnout across rural Ohio, it’s overwhelmingly Republican, especially in Northwest Ohio where in many counties, it’s 70%-30% or higher. In Putnam County, it’s over 80% Republican now. And to a great degree, it’s because many Democrats are aligned with the values of other Democrats who live in cities so they live in cities as well.”
But turnout in cities has been a challenge for Democrats too. For example, 34% of registered voters in Cleveland did not cast a vote in the 2024 election. So Democrats will have to both connect with rural voters who have shifted away from the party, and reconnect with city voters who have not shown up at the polls.
