2026 forecast · Ohio 15th

Don Leonard and Mike Carey are in a toss up for Ohio's 15th District.

Don Leonard vs Mike Carey. The model has Carey ahead by 0.8 points, winning 56 percent of 2,000 simulated elections.

Toss upModel R +0.8Polls R +2.0Updated October 22, 2026
Don Leonard
Democrat
48.7%
154,975 projected votes
Mike Carey
Republican
49.5%
157,471 projected votes
56%Carey
44%Leonard
Carey slightly favoredEach square is one simulated election night, Carey wins about 56 of 100
RatingToss up56% chance for Carey
Model marginR +0.8Polls R +2.0
80 percent rangeD +7.5 to R +8.82,000 simulations
Projected votes318,238Carey 49.5%

The district map

Every district in the state, shaded by its rating

Ohio districts

15 districts
Safe DLikely DLean DToss upLean RLikely RSafe R

Vote share

Each candidate's projected share and the range of 80 percent of simulations

Don LeonardDemocrat · 44% to win
48.7%
Mike CareyRepublican · 56% to win
49.5%

Scale runs from 25 to 75 percent. The dot is the forecast, the band is the 80 percent range and the brighter tick marks 50 percent.

Projected district vote

318,238 votes
CandidateVotesShare
Mike Carey R157,47149.5%
Don Leonard D154,97548.7%
Brennan Barrington L5,7921.8%
Total318,238100%

Each candidate's expected vote in the On Point simulation, at the forecast's projected turnout.

The trend

Each side's chance of winning over the forecast's recent updates

0%25%50%75%100%44% Leonard56% Carey16 updates agoToday

Polling

Every poll in the average, and how the model reads it

The Ohio governor polling average
38%40%42%44%46%48%50%52%MayJunJulAugSepOct49.1Acton44.9Ramaswamy
The line is the On Point average: a robust LOWESS fit through the polls, weighted by recency, sample, voter screen and pollster grade, refit three times so outliers count for lessDot size is each poll's weight todayHover or use the arrow keys to read any day
What moves the average today
New York Times/SienaOct 1 · 616 LV · Gold16%Acton +4.0
New York Times/SienaSep 30 · 600 LV · Gold16%Acton +4.0
On Point PollingOct 17 · 635 LV · Gold15%Acton +4.8
Fox News/Beacon Research and Shaw & CompanyOct 19 · 1,592 LV · A++14%Acton +2.0
Big Data PollSep 27 · 682 LV · Gold14%Ramaswamy +1.1
Cook Political Report/GS Strategy Group and New River StrategiesOct 13 · 959 LV · NR8.6%Acton +5.0
Every other poll together: 16%

This is the same On Point polling average as the full average page. The forecast reads the polls through its own Election Day projection, shown as the On Point average in the table below, and blends it with partisan lean and fundamentals.

Polls of the race

Full average
PollsterSampleAgeMargin
On Point averageWeighted averageR +2.0

Each margin is the poll as the pollster published it. The forecast counts every poll after its house effect and the undecided split, which is what the trail above shows; hover a margin for the counted value. Lean R and Lean D mark partisan leaning firms.

Model margin
Carey +0.8
Chance of winning
Don Leonard44%
Mike Carey56%
Simulated vote
Don Leonard48.7%
Mike Carey49.5%
Brennan Barrington1.8%
How the model gets there
Partisan leanD +10.0
FundamentalsR +0.7
With pollsR +0.8
Early vote turnoutNo change
With early voteR +0.8

Read from 0 ballots cast so far in Ohio, against the party mix the forecast expected of them, with similar states and primary turnout. Early vote tracker

How we got here

From the state's partisan lean to the forecast, one stage at a time

D +12R +12Partisan leanthe state's baselineD +10.0Fundamentalsapproval, economy, candidatesR +0.7With pollsaverage R +2.0R +0.8With early voteturnout so farR +0.8
Methodology
Every county is rebuilt by simulating voters going to the polls, 2,000 times, from On Point Polling survey data, past results, and the polling average. How the model works.