State Rep. Allison Russo, the former Ohio House Democratic leader, said she will run next year for secretary of state in an effort “to restore transparency, integrity and trust back into the office and into our elections.”

Russo, who is serving her fourth two-term term in the state House, said that when she stepped down in June as House minority leader, “I thought about what my next step would be, if I would even run for another office. I wanted to make sure that what I was doing would have a big impact on the state and the future of the state.”

Besides governor, Russo said secretary of state has that impact “because its most important job is to protect our ability to vote. When I think about the future of Ohio I want to make sure that the power rests with the people.”

Russo of Upper Arlington is the second Democrat to announce for secretary of state. Bryan Hambley, a Warren County doctor, declared in January.

Russo said she won’t speculate on what Hambley would do with her now in the race.

State Treasurer Robert Sprague is running next year as a Republican for secretary of state.

Republicans have held the secretary of state position for all but four years since 1991. A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide executive branch race since 2008.

“I certainly know we’ve got a lot of work to do in the upcoming cycle, but we also have a lot of opportunities in 2026,” Russo said.

Russo was first elected to the Ohio House in the 2018 election, flipping what was then a Republican-held seat. She’s won four terms in the House, became Democratic House leader in January 2022, and cannot seek reelection in 2026 because of the state’s term-limit law. She lost a 2021 special election for the 15th Congressional District seat that was drawn to favor Republicans.

Russo said Frank LaRose, the current secretary of state, and his Republican predecessors, specifically Jon Husted, who is now a U.S. senator, and Kenneth Blackwell use the “office for partisan gains and using that power not for voters, but to manipulate outcomes. There’s a lot of work to do. I firmly believe the secretary of state office should be nonpartisan. It’s not about who I agree or disagree with, who voters choose or what issue they are on the side of, but do they have full access to the ballot, is the ballot language and issues before them clear. There is so much work to be done to restore trust in that process.”

Russo said as House Democratic leader she has fought for voter access, voting rights and knows “all the tricks and schemes that we’ve seen from this supermajority trifecta at the state and how they try to manipulate the outcomes and put their will before the will of the voters. It’s time for that to stop and for the secretary of state’s office again to be a place that people trust that their vote matters and their voice is going to be heard.”

Russo said LaRose “has been pretty damaging to this office and to the rights of voters in this state. The faith of voters in elections, in whether their voice and vote matters has been undermined.”