Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026

Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of The Pennant. To listen to this newsletter, click the “Listen Online” link in the top right corner of this email.

On this day in 1948, the Chicago Tribune mistakenly declared “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Truman won the presidential election and later posed with the famously incorrect headline.

Top of the Fold: Ohio voters face nearly 1,000 local tax issues, early voting tops 1.6 million, and an ambulance driver leaves a patient, takes an Uber.

And the Teamsters back both parties, but their campaign contributions tell a different story, plus our editorial on the real Election Day winner: the end of yard signs.

STATEWIDE — Ohio voters face one statewide ballot question today: Issue 3, which would put photo ID requirements for voting into the Ohio Constitution. Supporters say it strengthens election security. Opponents say current safeguards are enough.

Closer to home, the Secretary of State's list shows just under 1,000 local tax questions, including school district requests to raise new money, renew existing taxes or reduce levies. Voters also face county health and human services levies and library levies.

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find your polling place or view your sample ballot.

COLUMBUS — More than 1.6 million Ohioans cast ballots before Election Day, surpassing the early vote total from the 2022 midterm election. 

Early voting ended Sunday, with long lines reported at some county election offices.

The turnout includes ballots cast in person and by mail. Election officials say they are prepared for more voters at the polls today. 

While early voting numbers show strong interest in this year's races, they don't tell us who will win. Ohio does not report how early voters cast their ballots. Read more.

CLEVELAND — An ambulance driver transporting a patient with chest pains to the Cleveland Clinic got lost, announced he was done driving for the day, and called an Uber to go home.

The driver worked for Lynx EMS, a private ambulance company, not Cleveland's emergency medical services department. 

Cleveland EMS responded, treated the patient, and completed the trip to the hospital.

Lynx EMS said it took immediate steps to address the patient's needs and is reviewing the incident. 

The company has not publicly detailed what disciplinary action, if any, the driver faces. Read the full story.

STATEWIDE — The Teamsters have made a point of working with both parties. In 2024, the union considered endorsing Donald Trump, sent its president to the Republican National Convention and ultimately stayed neutral in the presidential race.

Its campaign finance record leans one way. A database of federal candidate contributions covering the 2016 through 2026 election cycles lists more than $8.1 million from the union's national D.R.I.V.E. PAC to Democrats and nearly $597,000 to Republicans.

In Ohio, the Teamsters endorsed Democrat Sherrod Brown for Senate, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy for governor and a House slate split evenly between the parties, with five Democrats and five Republicans.

Review the PAC records. See the Ohio endorsements.

Tomorrow, Ohioans will wake up to a new political reality. Some will be thrilled beyond belief. Others will declare it the end of freedom and democracy as we know it.

And the rest of us will celebrate the removal of the yard signs.

It's like the week after Christmas, when everyone puts their trees out for recycling. Except most of us like Christmas.

We've discovered that some people really LOVE their political yard signs. Forget announcing you're the proud parent of a high school cheerleader or honor student. Bob Smith needs to be elected, and everyone who goes by needs to understand that.

Then there's the latest annoyance in yard sign design: the double-decker sign. In neighborhoods that limit the number of signs, clever political warriors figured out how to squeeze two candidates onto one. Technically legal, perhaps, but with the visual appeal of an advertisement for the local slaughterhouse.

If all goes well, we'll know most of the election results by Wednesday. We hope. Oh, please let it end.

Winners will declare unity. Losers will vow to fight. Both sides will immediately begin raising money. Apparently, democracy comes at a cost.

School districts will face their fiscal reality when the levy results come in. Those that lose will confront difficult spending decisions — or, in the great Ohio school funding tradition, immediately begin preparing for the May ballot.

Some data center projects may disappear. And if certain charter amendments pass, some communities may discover they've made it easier to keep taxpaying developers out than to bring opportunity in.

Yes, elections have consequences.

We're considering one final contribution to the neighborhood political debate. Our next yard sign will simply read:

AREN'T YARD SIGNS STUPID?

Election Day will end. The signs will come down. Whether your candidate, moratorium, charter amendment, state representative, or sheriff won or lost, we're still somewhat obligated to get along.

We really should find a way to coexist. 

And most importantly, no matter what happens today, Ohio State plays Oregon on Saturday at 3:30.

And we can all agree: We need fewer penalties and better playcalling in the red zone.

This editorial reflects the views of The Pennant Editorial Board. Questions or comments are welcome at [email protected].

The Pennant welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns from readers. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity, and AP style. The Pennant reserves the right to verify all information contained in submissions before publication.

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