Amy Acton Voted Governor. Sherrod Brown Wins: CLE Daily

Plus, news, notes and things to do around Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

by Ron Ledgard | Nov. 4, 2026 | 5:00 AM

Photograph courtesy Amy Acton

🍫 The Owners of Lilly Handmade Chocolate Open a Sweeter, Cheaper Sequel: Amanda and Joshua Montague, who ran Tremont's Lilly for about a decade, opened Candy Dish Confections this summer at 14234 Madison Ave. in Lakewood, with housemade buckeyes, Flying Saucers and candied orange dark chocolate for $1 to $10 and up. Amanda says the goal is something "a little more everybody-friendly."

🍝 This Kent Restaurant Is Named for the Owner's Grandmother: Co-owners Mandy Yannucci and chef Emily Hansford opened Maddalena's Italian Ristorante in July 2025 at 252 N. Water St. in Kent's Mill District, in a building that sat vacant for about 12 years. The menu includes meatballs with ricotta, rigatoni alla zozzona and housemade gelato, and the walls are lined with family photos. "Everybody gets loud," Yannucci says.

🇰🇷 K-Pop Meets Pansori: South Korean viral sensation Leenalchi makes its Cleveland debut tonight at the Cleveland Museum of Art, timed to the exhibition Ten Kings of Hell: The Afterlife in Medieval Korea.

ICYMI: Remember our look at Detroit-Shoreway's building boom? The 13-story Naia Noir apartment tower, 143 feet tall with 110 units overlooking Edgewater Park, has topped out as the neighborhood's tallest residential project, while 51 senior apartments above a rebuilt Walz library branch and the 135-unit Canopy on Herman Park rise nearby.

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Today's Trivia

What Cleveland Indians player, who called Lakewood home after his playing career, is still the only ballplayer to have an unassisted triple play in the World Series?

News: Amy Acton is Ohio's next governor. Sherrod Brown captures the Senate seat.

By Cleveland Magazine Staff

More than 1.7 million Ohioans voted before polls opened Tuesday, breaking the state's early-voting record for a governor's year. About 1.1 million cast ballots in person at county boards of elections, along with more than 630,000 mail-in ballots, were back as of Sunday — roughly 86% of those requested. Cuyahoga County led the state in early voters. "Ohioans crushed the 2022 early voting record," Secretary of State Frank LaRose said.

Governor Acton: Amy Acton is the first woman to be elected Ohio's governor and the first Democrat to hold the office in 16 years. The physician who ran Ohio's pandemic response — and left the job in 2020 after protesters gathered outside her home — turned that visibility into the party's best statewide showing since Sherrod Brown's last Senate win. She beat Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur and former presidential candidate who had Donald Trump's endorsement and a double-digit financial edge for much of the race.

Senator Brown: Sherrod Brown is going back to the Senate. Two years after Bernie Moreno ended his 18-year run, the Democrat reclaimed a seat in the chamber — this one belonging to Jon Husted, appointed to fill JD Vance's unexpired term and asking Ohio voters to ratify the choice for the first time. Brown ran on affordability, the same economic argument that carried him through three terms in a state that has otherwise moved steadily away from his party.

Talk of the Town

Medicare open enrollment ends Dec. 7, but some of the best plans are already closing. Experts say some of the most competitive plans stop accepting new enrollees around Halloween, and Wellcare has dropped its Medicare Advantage plans across Ohio. Plans are also raising out-of-pocket maximums and trimming extra benefits, so check your annual notice of change letter.

The Westinghouse site in Detroit-Shoreway has been declared "structurally unsafe." A city inspector cited cracked foundations, a leaning parapet wall and a deteriorated roof at the former plant at 1200 W. 58th St. after a citizen complaint, giving the owner 30 days to fix structural problems. The site is part of an $81.5 million mixed-use redevelopment, and no construction has been reported since a permit was ready in March.

Cleveland City Council is withholding $1.1 million owed to the Browns. The money is for repairs to the lakefront stadium, and council also voted 8-5 to approve resurfacing part of Brookpark Road near the site of the team's proposed Brook Park stadium.

Massillon is one of Ohio Magazine's Best Hometowns. The Stark County city, known for its football roots, industrial ingenuity and historic streets, joins Loveland, Marietta, Marion and Tiffin on the 2026-27 list.

Families have until Friday to sign up for the Salvation Army's Christmas toy program. Families with children 12 and younger can apply in person at five Cleveland-area corps or at SAAngelTree.org by Nov. 6, with toys distributed Dec. 14 to 18. Last year, the program helped more than 2,800 families.

Things To Do: Concerts, plays, Devo fandom and more ways to spend your weekend.

By Jeff Niesel

Blue October at the Agora | Music | Nov. 7
Led by Justin Furstenfeld, a sensitive singer-songwriter if there ever were one, this Houston-based indie rock band brings returns to the Agora. The tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of the group's breakthrough album, Foiled, which yielded hits such as "Hate Me" and "Into the Ocean." Doors open at 7 p.m. 5000 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com

Hadestown at Connor Palace | Theatre | Through Nov. 8
Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the 2020 Grammy award for Best Musical Theater Album, Hadestown comes to the Connor Palace for a run that continues through Sunday. Thursday's performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. 1519 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org

Devotional 2026 at Beachland Ballroom | Music | Nov. 6-7
The annual two-day tribute to the Akron new wave band returns to the Beachland Tavern. Friday's show begins at 7 p.m., and the festivities continue at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 15711 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com

MIX: K-Pop Inferno at Cleveland Museum of Art | Party | Nov. 6
Inspired by the art museum's newest special exhibition, Ten Kings of Hell: The Afterlife in Medieval Korea, an exhibit that explores how medieval Koreans envisioned the afterlife, Cleveland Museum of Art's monthly MIX party will feature performances by DJ Moobek and DJ Hwarang. The event begins at 6 p.m. 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org

Rocky River Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show at Rocky River Memorial Hall | Shopping | Nov. 7
A variety of vendors selling handmade goods will be on hand for this annual event that takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rocky River Memorial Hall. 21016 Hilliard Road, Rocky River, 216-575-9120, avantgardeshows.com

Find our full guide at clevelandmagazine.com .

Yesterday's Trivia Answer

Roy Orbison’s last performance, two days before he died in 1988, came at what Cleveland-area venue? The Front Row

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.

From the Editor

Ohio made history Tuesday night. Democrat Amy Acton won the governor’s race, becoming the first woman elected to lead the state and the first Democrat to win the office since Ted Strickland in 2006.

Acton, a physician who guided Ohio’s early pandemic response as health director, defeated Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

She takes office in January 2027, ending more than two centuries of statehood without a woman in the governor’s mansion.

— Ron Ledgard, Managing Editor

Let us know what is on your mind at conversation@clevelandmagazine.com.

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Ron Ledgard

Ron Ledgard is Cleveland Magazine's managing editor and a Pittsburgh native who has made his peace with Cleveland (except on Sundays). He's a University of Pittsburgh graduate, a veteran of The Athletic and the Akron Beacon Journal, and was there for every chapter of LeBron's Cleveland story. After two decades of chasing deadlines and box scores, he's happily landed in magazines. He's a sucker for a long story done right, the kind you save for a Sunday morning (before kickoff, of course). When he isn't editing, he's out on a trail, trying a new restaurant or hunting for the next great thing to do. Sports is his subject of choice, and coffee is his fuel. Most Starbucks baristas in the area greet him like the Cheers crowd greeted Norm.