In 2026, three of Ohio’s state executives—each of whom have hit their term limits—are seeking new roles.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose is vying for state auditor, and Auditor Keith Faber for attorney general. Neither will have an opponent in May, though each will have general election opponents.
But in the race to succeed LaRose as Ohio’s authority on elections and business filings, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague will face Marcell Strbich, the retired Air Force lieutenant and elections activist, in May.
Platforms on elections
For decades, secretaries of state across the aisle have touted Ohio’s elections as fair and accurate, with audits showing voter fraud is exceedingly rare.
Ohio law requires all voting machines to have a voter-verified paper trail. Both candidates in this primary said Ohio needs to further bolster its election security, however, including by moving away from 100% electronic voting systems.
“When you have that separate piece of paper, it creates a perfect audit trail,” Sprague said in an interview. “We can go back and we can audit the paper, to make sure the machines aren’t rigged and they are 100% accurate and the elections are 100% accurate.”
Twelve counties use electronic-only machines, and switching over would cost between $16 million and $24 million, he said. He’d ask the state to cover the tab. “There’s a cost to running secure elections,” he said.
Strbich’s proposal for paper ballot is stricter.
“The difference between his paper ballots and my paper ballots, is he qualifies paper ballots that come out of electronic vote casting machines as equal to the paper ballots that I’m talking about, which are just pen and paper marked,” Strbich said in an interview.
Half of Ohio’s 88 counties don’t even offer those paper ballots, he said, which would mean major changes.
And although Ohio has had no-excuse absentee voting since 2005, Sprague wants Election Day declared a statewide holiday, and then, to require a reason to vote by mail.
“If we declare Election Day a holiday, I’d like for us to go back to in-person voting,” Sprague said.
Strbich wants further changes earlier on in the election cycle, during voter registration, he said.
“You don’t want to disenfranchise voters by making the process too difficult to get access to the ballot or the voting process, Strbich said. “You don’t want to dilute, on the other side of that coin, a legitimate person’s vote.”
Ohio has already seen numerous changes to its elections in recent years. In 2022, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill enacting more stringent ID requirements to vote and, in 2025, one shortening the absentee ballot return period.
Platform on state business filings
Sprague wants artificial intelligence used to connect businesses to resources, he said.
“You don’t have time to look at all these grant programs or loan programs and figure out what you qualify for and what you don’t,” Sprague said.
Strbich thinks there is room for the office to further audit filings, he said.
“The Secretary of State can take a more of a leading role right now in addressing false business filings, not before, but after the fact,” Strbich said.
The Ohio GOP and the lion’s share of county parties have endorsed Sprague, while Strbich has clinched some notable endorsements, including the conservative Ohio Values Voters and some national and state right wing influencers.
