Local

Ohio House race still undecided a week after Election Day — Abrams leads by 19 votes as recount looms

Cincinnati, Ohio • November 9, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Ohio State Rep. Cindy Abrams, official portrait at the Ohio Statehouse

Photo: Ohio House of Representatives

A week after Election Day, one Hamilton County race for the Ohio House is still up in the air. Republican Rep. Cindy Abrams leads Democrat Jonathan Bradner by just 19 votes, according to unofficial results — a margin so thin it falls well inside the threshold for an automatic recount.

Abrams, who represents the 29th District — parts of Harrison, Mount Healthy and North College Hill — leads 50.02 percent to 49.98 percent. Under Ohio law, any state legislative race decided by half a percentage point or less goes to an automatic recount. Her 19-vote edge amounts to 0.03 percent of the ballots cast.

The winner may not be known for more than another week. Sherry Poland, executive director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, said the results will be clearer the week of November 16, when the board conducts its official canvass of the ballots — and only then will it determine whether a recount is needed. Roughly 10,000 provisional ballots countywide still need to be cured, Poland said, and absentee ballots had to be received by November 7 to count.

Bradner, a pastor, told supporters on Facebook to settle in for the wait. "Dig in friends, because we may not know the results until November 18th. We will try to update you on this platform the best that we can. Stay tuned. I love you all," he wrote. The Cincinnati Enquirer reached out to Abrams but did not immediately receive a response.

It is the closest race of Abrams' career. Appointed to the seat in 2019, she faced only a write-in candidate in 2020 and won with 98 percent of the vote, ran unopposed in 2022, and won with 57 percent in 2024.

Abrams' race is one of four Ohio House contests sitting inside the automatic-recount margin. Democrat Tom Herner leads Rep. Tom Young by 134 votes in the 37th District; Republican Ed Schimmel leads Democrat David Fournier by 56 votes in the 44th, where an independent candidate took about 4 percent; and Rep. Haraz Ghanbari leads Democrat Richard Rettig by 126 votes in the 75th District. County boards must complete their official canvass and certify results no later than November 24, and a recount is ordered after certification if the margin still falls under half a percent.

Whatever the recounts decide, Democrats have already broken the Republican veto-proof majority in the House, flipping eight seats on Election Day. If the current results hold, the chamber would move from 65 Republicans and 34 Democrats to 56 Republicans and 43 Democrats.

Sources: The Cincinnati Enquirer, "Did Cindy Abrams win reelection? We're not sure yet" (Nov. 9, 2026); The Ohio Society of CPAs, "Four Ohio House races in recount territory as ballots still outstanding" (Nov. 5, 2026, with reporting contributed by Hannah News and figures from the Ohio Secretary of State's office). Event date verified: the Enquirer's report on the still-undecided 29th District race was published November 9, 2026, six days after the November 3 election; the 19-vote margin and the four recount-territory races were confirmed by both sources.