Tuesday voters across the region headed to the polls to exercise their civic right.

While there were no statewide races on the ballot, there were many key local races including all of the Cleveland City Council seats and mayoral contests.

In Cleveland, Mayor Justin Bibb won re-election to a second term. While Jim Petras becomes the next mayor of Cleveland Heights after a turbulent year that brought the recall of his predecessor Kahlil Seren. Sandra Morgan returns as mayor of East Cleveland after serving in an interim capacity earlier in the year.

Three incumbents on Cleveland City Council were ousted. Richard Starr defeated Rebecca Maurer in Ward 5. In Ward 10, Mike Polensek defeated fellow incumbent Anthony Hairston. Tanmay Shah, a progressive union organizer, lawyer and truck driver beat incumbent Danny Kelly by seven votes. That race result will likely lead to a recount.

Voters across the region were also asked to decide crowded school board races. In Akron, two incumbent board members lost their seats in a crowded race that had eight candidates vying for four seats. In Lakewood, two challengers upset with a school consolidation plan in that district were unsuccessful in an attempt to unseat incumbent members.

In addition to the school board races, levies were on the ballot in many communities as schools navigate legislation out of Columbus that impacts levy requests. Voters mostly passed renewals of existing levies but turned down requests seeking additional money.

Wednesday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll kick off the show talking to a few candidates who won their races. We'll also talk school levies.

Later in the show, while the 2025 election just ended, for many the focus has shifted to next year's midterm elections.

Unlike this year, that ballot will feature races for Congress and U.S. Senate as well as the statewide executive offices.

A statewide push to try and end property taxes completely in Ohio is also aiming for the ballot in 2026.

We're going to round out Wednesday's program by looking ahead to 2026 and what, if anything results from this year's election may signal for the coming political year.

Guests:
- Jim Petras, Mayor-elect, Cleveland Heights
- Austin Davis, Council Member-elect, Ward 7, Cleveland City Council
- Sandra Morgan Mayor-elect, East Cleveland
- Conor Morris, Education Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
- David Cohen, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Director, Applied Politics Program, The University of Akron
- Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio and Television