First Look: Primary Tuesday and Ohio 12th District Special Election
By 270toWin Staff
August 6, 2018
Ohio Special Election
The final congressional special election before the 2018 midterms takes place this Tuesday and it is shaping up to be a nail-biter. Voters in Ohio's 12th district will fill the vacancy created when Republican Pat Tiberi resigned in January. The most recent poll of the race showed just one point separating the nominees, Republican Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O'Connor. This is an extremely tight race for Ohio, where the closest margin of victory in a 2016 U.S. House race was over 18%*. Regardless of who wins, the two will meet again in the November general election.
Polls close at 7:30 PM Eastern. If you live in the 12th district, find your polling location.
Primaries in Four States
Tuesday also brings us primaries in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington. The poll closing times are listed in the table below, along with the number of congressional districts in the state - all are up for election in November - and whether there is a Senate and/or gubernatorial election in 2018.
If you live in one of these states, click or tap the name to find your polling location.
| State | Polls Close1 | House | Senate | Governor |
| Missouri | 8:00 PM | 8 | Yes | |
| Michigan | 8:00 PM / 9:00 PM2 | 14 | Yes | Yes |
| Kansas | 8:00 PM / 9:00 PM3 | 4 | Yes | |
| Washington | 11:00 PM4 | 10 | Yes |
1 All times Eastern. Some states have local variations; it is recommended that you confirm the time for your particular polling place
2 Polls close 8:00 PM local time; all but a lightly populated portion of the Upper Peninsula is in the Eastern Time Zone
3 Polls close at 7:00 PM local time; all but a small portion of the state is in the Central Time Zone
4 Predominantly vote by mail. Ballots must be postmarked on or before August 7 or dropped off in a ballot box by the closing time
Washington is a top-two state, similar to California. All candidates appear on a single ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, moving on to the general election.
* A consequence of the state's highly gerrymandered congressional districts. Fortunately, Ohio voters recently approved a resolution that will modify the process beginning with the next redistricting in 2021.
