What's at stake in Ohio's primary election

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Messy primaries and highly contested races from the top of the ticket to the bottom are leaving a lot at stake in this year’s primary election.

“It’s just part of the process,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said. “I mean this is where we are today.”

There is a three-way Republican primary for U.S. Senate between Donald Trump-endorsed Bernie Moreno, DeWine-endorsed Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

“A Trump endorsement brings out the primary base of the Republican base in a way that a DeWine endorsement simply can’t,” Christopher McKnight Nichols, history professor and chair of national security studies at Ohio State University, said.

“I understand why everybody wants to see it through the filter of President Trump, but for me, that’s not the issue,” DeWine said. “Whoever wins the primary, I will currently be for them. They all have the chance to win. I just think if you’re picking the strongest candidate, then Matt Dolan has the ability to reach out to a very broad group of people.”

Nichols said he would be surprised if Moreno lost, especially given his endorsement, and recent polling backs that up.

“I would be very surprised if Moreno lost the primary," Nichols said. "It looks like he is on the trajectory to win significantly."

At the statehouse, there are 30 contested Republican primaries and 12 Democratic contested primaries. Nineteen of the Republican primaries involve an incumbent.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite like this before,” DeWine said. “I don’t have the data but I can’t remember when we’ve had that many that have been that really, really, really contested and going down to the wire, particularly when you have incumbents.”

Nichols said that specifically on the Republican side, the difference between who wins those could mean a shift in how things operate at the statehouse. And Nichols said it could mean the same way Ohio Speaker of the House Jason Stephens got elected would not happen again.

“One of the big stakes here is will this kind of coalition speakership exist after this election,” Nicholas said. “And what would that mean for attempts to legislate in a bipartisan way and what will it mean for more extreme legislation.”

"We’re going to get through it," DeWine said. "We are going to find out on Tuesday night who won, or maybe Wednesday morning, or maybe the next day, and we’ll move on from there.”

As for turnout, through Saturday, according to the secretary of state’s office, more than 375,00 Ohioans have cast their ballot.

“I don’t think that’s any indicator for what’s going to happen in the fall election; we could very well see record turnout,” Nichols said.

More than half of those voters are Republican, with more than 207,000 of those votes cast on a Republican ballot.

“The gap, at this kind of point, in an election that at the highest level is already mostly decided, it shouldn't tell us too much,” Nichols said. “I suppose the way people would read the tea leaves about that is how energetic are the bases right now and can we say anything about this primary turnout as an indicator for the fall enthusiasm.”

Nicholas said this primary might also help indicate what issues Ohioans care about.

“And then we can see if there’s a through line, through let’s say the early fall or the late summer, what does that suggest about which issues are continuing to drive them,” he said.