Ohio State Representative Derek Merrin (R., Monclova) joins a crowded Republican field for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District.
Other Republican filers include J.R. Majewski, Craig Riedel, Steve Lankenau, and Terrence Smith.
The five Republicans are vying to unseat Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), who is in her 21st term after being first elected in 1983. She is the longest-serving woman in Congress.
Mr. Merrin is term-limited from his current Ohio House seat and failed to be named speaker when 22 Republicans partnered with Democrats to elect Jason Stephens (R., Kitts Hill).
“Ohio needs a proven conservative leader with a backbone who is able to defeat Marcy Kaptur and put our country back on the right path,” Mr. Merrin said. “Growing up in northwest Ohio, I have witnessed the broken policies pushed for decades by Marcy Kaptur and Joe Biden repeatedly fail our community.”
Elected as one of the youngest mayors in Ohio, Mr. Merrin said he is in favor of lower taxes, safer neighborhoods, and a more transparent government.
“I’ve never been afraid to face down slings and arrows from the left or challenge my own party,” he said. “I look forward to crisscrossing the district over the coming months as we push forward to bring Marcy Kaptur back home and restore strong, conservative leadership to Washington.”
Mr. Reidel pointed to Mr. Merrin's connection to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who was convicted last year in the $61 million bribery scandal.
“I served with Derek Merrin in the Ohio House of Representatives, and no single decision or vote during our time together is more important than his choice to stand with the most corrupt politician in Ohio history, disgraced and incarcerated former Speaker Larry Householder, whom I opposed every step of the way,” the statement read. “The Washington, DC, swamp is filled with yes-men who do what lobbyists, career politicians, and corrupt insiders ask of them, as Merrin did as Householder's loyal lieutenant.”
The Kaptur campaign released a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“After great pressure from Washington and Columbus, the GOP has added another candidate to its March Primary,” the statement read. “These are the same political power brokers who orchestrated failure after failure in the House of Representatives this year. Congresswoman Kaptur remains focused on working across the aisle, getting Congress to work for all of the people, and on delivering real results for NW Ohio."
The filing deadline for the 2024 election cycle was 4 p.m. Wednesday.
LUCAS COUNTY
There are two Lucas County commissioner seats on the ballot in 2024.
Ohio State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D., Toledo) filed to run against Lucas County Auditor Anita Lopez for Lucas County Commissioner in the March, 2024 primary.
The two Democrats are running to fill the unexpired term of Tina Skeldon-Wozniak, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Waterville Republican John Rozic also filed to run for the unexpired term.
Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken, a Democrat, is unopposed in the primary. He will face former Toledo councilman Tom Waniewski, a Republican, in the general election in November, 2024.
In the Ohio 41st House race, Democrats Colin Flanagan and Erika White will be on the March primary ballot. The winner will face Republican Josiah Leinbach, who is unopposed in the primary.
“Today, I am proud to announce that I have submitted over double the number of required signatures for state representative,” Mr. Flanagan said. “I could not have done this without the support of so many Ohioans who feel that they have been ignored and disrespected by the Republican swamp in Columbus.
“I look forward to meeting many more folks in the coming months, and talking to them about the need to take Toledo values to Capital Square,” he said.
WOOD COUNTY
There will be a healthy slate of Wood County Democratic and Republican candidates running against each other in the November, 2024, presidential election, with several contested Republican races in the March primary.
Sally Culling will challenge Haraz Ghanbari for the Republican nomination for state representative, 75th district. Both live in Perrysburg.
Jan Materni, a Democrat who was not re-elected to Perrysburg City Council in November, will face the winner of the Ghanbari-Culling race in November.
Paloma De La Fuente, a Democrat from Perrysburg, will challenge incumbent Theresa Gavarone, a Republican from Bowling Green, for the Ohio Senate District 2 seat in November. Both are running unopposed in the primary.
Cory Kuhlman, a Perrysburg councilman who was just re-elected for a second term in November, is challenging incumbent Wood County Commissioner Ted Bowlus, of Pemberville, in the March primary. Both are Republicans.
The winner will face Philip Chrysler, of Bowling Green, in November. He is running as a Democrat in the primary unopposed.
Incumbent recorder James Matuszak, of Perrysburg, is being challenged by Connor Rose, of Bowling Green, in the March primary. Both are Republicans. The winner will face Jeremy Schroeder, a Democrat, who is running unopposed in the primary.
Wood County Treasurer Jane Spoerl, a Republican, will be challenged in November by Democrat Sanjay Gupta. They are running unopposed in the March primary.
OHIO SUPREME COURT
The lineup of candidates for three high court seats on the 2024 ballot has been known for a while, but exactly who would run against whom was in the hands of the court's newest member, Republican Justice Joe Deters.
This week he settled that question when he filed petitions to run against Democratic incumbent Justice Melody Stewart for a full six-year term rather than for the two years left in the unexpired term that Gov. Mike DeWine appointed the former Hamilton County prosecutor to a year ago.
The Ohio Supreme Court currently has a 4-3 GOP majority so control of the court is again at stake in next year's election.
Democratic Justice Michael Donnelly will seek a second term in November against GOP opposition from Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan.
That leaves the abbreviated two-year term created when Justice Sharon Kennedy was elevated to chief justice in 2022. Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins, a Republican, will face the winner of the Democratic primary, featuring Cleveland appellate Judge Lisa Forbes, who was endorsed by the Ohio Democratic Party, and Terri Jamison, who ran two years ago but lost.
Next year will mark the second general election in which Supreme Court candidates will appear on the ballot with partisan labels attached. Last year's election was a GOP sweep for three seats.
U.S. SENATE
For U.S. Senate, there were no surprises. Democrat Sherrod Brown will face the winner of the four-way race for the Republican primary, which includes Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose, Doug Stuart, and Bernie Moreno, who was recently endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
PRESIDENT
The Republican presidential primary will feature Chris Christie, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Donald Trump, and Ryan Binkley. On the Democratic side, the primary will include incumbent President Biden, Dean Phillips, and Marianne Williamson.
Staff Writer Debbie Rogers contributed to this report.
First Published December 20, 2023, 8:06 p.m.
