Former Ohio State Sen. Niraj Antani to Run for Secretary of State in 2026 Midterm Elections

- The 33-year-old Indian American, who just finished a 10-year run as a state lawmaker, was Ohio’s youngest senator and the first Indian American to serve in the Senate.

Former Ohio State Sen. Niraj Antani has announced his candidacy to run for Ohio Secretary of State in 2026. The 33-year-old Indian American just finished a 10-year run as a state lawmaker representing portions of Montgomery County. Born and raised in southern Ohio, he was first elected to represent his Dayton-area Senate district in 2020 after serving six years in the Ohio House. He was Ohio’s youngest senator and the first Indian American to serve in the Senate.
“Living under British rule in India less than 70 years ago, my family didn’t have their freedom. They didn’t have the right to vote,” Antani said in a press release today, announcing his candidacy. “As someone born in America, I uniquely understand we must cherish that we were born free people, born with the right to vote.” He said. “This is a sacred institution; our vote must be protected, safeguarded, secured. As Ohio’s next Secretary of State, I will do just that.”
I am incredibly excited to announce I’m running for Secretary of State of Ohio in 2026!
— Niraj Antani (@NirajAntani) January 23, 2025
Current Secretary of State Frank LaRose is term limited and cannot run again, along with the other statewide Constitutional officers of Ohio. The Secretary of State is 1 of 6 statewide… pic.twitter.com/4N65JSbpiR
As “a proud Hindu State Senator in Ohio history,” Antani said he “enacted a law to give every Hindu student in Ohio a day off school for Diwali and 2 other Hindu holidays.” He passed the bill “to designate October as Hindu Heritage Month,” he said. “I was the only one to speak up against the ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference, the Seattle City Council resolution and California bill that targeted Hindus, and the first in support of the safety of Bangladeshi Hindus,” he added.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office is responsible for overseeing elections for the state of Ohio as well as registering companies to do business in Ohio. Antani told The Columbus Dispatch that “Ohio needs a secretary of state with a ‘steel spine’ to protect the integrity of the election system.” He pointed to “controversial positions he’s stuck to in the legislature, such as supporting the ban on abortions when cardiac activity is detected and opposing the gas tax increase.”
Antani said he “opposes automatic voter registration, ballot drop boxes and having more than one early voting location in a county. I think we have to secure our elections,” he said. “The right to vote is too sacred and too important and elections are won by too small of a margin, not to make sure that every vote is by a registered legal voter who is a citizen of the United States.”