CINCINNATI, Ohio — Three Ohio House Republican candidates are counting on “common sense” pitches to expand upon Republican wins in the state seen in recent cycles.
House GOP candidates Orlando Sonza, Derek Merrin, and Kevin Coughlin are looking to flip the 1st, 9th, and 13th Districts held by Reps. Greg Landsman (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), and Emilia Sykes (D-OH), respectively.
If the GOP wins all three districts, only two seats — held by Reps. Shontel Brown (D-OH) and Joyce Beatty (D-OH) — will remain in Democratic hands.
Ohio Republican strategist Matt Dole told the Washington Examiner much of the “red wave” that has given Republicans an edge in congressional races is attributed to working-class Democrats becoming conservative thanks to former President Donald Trump.
“For a couple cycles, it was that reverse sea of working class Democrats, and then the urban centers of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, drove Democrat success and Republicans had to depend on the small counties,” Dole said, adding the GOP had to depend on nearly 75 of the 88 counties in the state for turnout to compete with blue strongholds.
“The Trump coalition broke that,” Dole continued.
Sonza leans on background as legal immigrant
Orlando Sonza describes himself as a Christian, husband, father, patriot, and conservative: in that order.
Speaking on Oct. 13 to a group of supporters at a GOP candidate event hosted by the Hamilton County Republican Party, Sonza said his past as a legal immigrant from the Philippines and his military background have prepared him to bring back people’s “faith and confidence” in the U.S. government.
“This is a neck and neck race, folks, and we can certainly win it back, and we will win it back and restore duty, honor, and country back for Southwest Ohio,” Sonza said.
The atmosphere at the Hamilton County GOP event was filled with excitement, as supporters and voters heard from candidates running in national positions like Sonza down to the race for appellate court and county judge. The pavilion was filled with Trump-Vance placards, with a large cutout of the former president holding a “No tax on tips” sign, a staple of Trump’s campaign.
Ohio’s 1st District has been represented by Landsman since 2022 when he defeated longtime Republican incumbent Steve Chabot. The district, which voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 by 8.5 points, leans in favor of Democrats thanks to redistricting reforms that forced lawmakers to bring in all of Cincinnati.
However, it is not out of Republicans’ reach, as the district includes all of Warren County, a GOP stronghold that Trump won in 2020 with 65% of the vote. The Cook Political Report rates the contest as “likely Democrat.”
“Anytime you take out an incumbent, it’s a pretty impressive feat,” Erin Covey, House analyst for Cook Political Report, said of Landsman’s 2022 upset. “Some of that, I think, was because the environment in Ohio was pretty good for Democrats, with Tim Ryan running and so there, he might have provided some coattails there.”
Landsman winning reelection could provide security for Democrats looking to retake the chamber after the 2024 election. But a win from Sonza could expand the razor-thin majority currently held by the Republicans.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Sonza said entering the race was an answer to a call to service. He said Republicans in Washington, D.C. saw that in 2020, 14 congressional seats around the country were flipped from blue to red by “either a minority, a veteran, or a female candidate.”
“So they wanted to look to see if there was talent in southwest Ohio for that,” Sonza said. “And then, you know, I literally got a call from D.C. and was asked to consider this race.”
“Republicans struck out recruiting candidates in Ohio and are stuck with a merry band of misfits who can’t raise money, have extreme records, and the retail politics of Ron DeSantis,” DCCC spokesperson Aidan Johnson. “Their bumbling campaigns can’t seem to get the name of their opponents correct, let alone win in November.”
Johnson’s remark comes after a mailer distributed by Americans for Prosperity attacking Landsman’s record was misprinted with the wrong name, Tim Landsman.
Sonza, who immigrated to the U.S. when he was three years old, has used his background as a cornerstone of his campaign pitch.
“When I look at my upbringing as someone who’s a product of the legal immigration system, I think about how my parents instilled in me this idea that in this country, it’s the greatest country in the world, because you have an opportunity to live a safe life….with four kids under the age of 10, I want to make sure that they have the same opportunity that I had,” Sonza said.
The Ohio Republican said he would be the “biggest proponent” of legal immigration because of his background, noting that he prosecuted illegal immigrants that “have not just broken our laws in the southern border, but have broken our laws right here in southwest Ohio.”
“All that we’re trying to do, especially in this local race, is to say that we want to bring common sense back and not go for these extreme policies, because at the end of the day, ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have bad consequences,” Sonza said.
The Republican slammed Landsman for his stances on crime, accusing him of wanting to defund the police back when he served on the Cincinnati city council. He also blasted the Democrat for “no” votes on Republican border-focused legislation, such as the SAVE Act.
“It’s the left that advocates for these extreme policies like defunding the police that make absolutely no sense for the people of Ohio, absolutely no sense for the people in this district,” Sonza said.
In June 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd, calls to defund the police spurned discussions in Cinncinati over how to allocate public safety funds. Landsman, who served on the council at the time, proposed pulling $200,000 from the police budget to fund the Citizen’s Complaint Authority. The group independently reviews complaints against police officers.
In September, Landsman joined three others in voting against a motion that would make it against the law to defund the police, per the Cincinnati Enquirer. He said during the meeting that his colleagues should spend more time addressing gun violence than focusing on a motion.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Landsman for comment.
Sonza noted his top priorities in the House would be renewing Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, passing bills to slow down inflation and close the southern border — common talking points Republicans have used throughout the 2024 cycle.
Supporters who gathered at the Hamilton County GOP’s event praised Sonza as an impressive young man.
“This guy’s the salt of the earth,” said Tom Weidman, Sycamore Township Trustee and organizer of the weekend’s event. “He’s a hard worker. He came up as a legal immigrant to the United States and served his country. It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Coughlin ‘coming off the bench’ to compete for swing seat
Unlike Sonza, Kevin Coughlin has political experience as a former state senator. However, he’s been “away from politics” largely due to running a business for the last 14 years.
“I’m coming off the bench because the direction of the country and the importance of this election,” Coughlin said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Some of his top priorities include closing the border, tax reform, and regulatory oversight. The latter, he admitted, is not the “sexiest campaign issue,” but he said it is important for Congress to exercise more review over federal agencies.
“I believe that if you’re going to run for office and you’re going to serve that you should have something to show at the end of it,” Coughlin said. “I’m very results-oriented, and that means results for the people that I represent. You’re gonna find in me a member who rolls up his sleeves and gets to work and tries to bring people together to focus on problems.”
Coughlin is facing Sykes, who, like Landsman, is a freshman member of Congress. Both have been on the ground speaking with constituents, most recently at the Akron Press Club. Sykes, who spoke on Thursday, told supporters she would continue “working for my constituents” on priorities like reproductive rights, housing, and gerrymandering via Issue 1.
“From gas and groceries, housing and health care — people are just burdened; it just costs too much to live,” Sykes said at the forum via the Akron Beacon Journal. “I’m going to make sure that people keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets.”
Despite Sykes’s promises to work for the everyday American, Coughlin said he thinks she is part of a stark division between “the political class and the rest of us.”
“We’ve got a political class in DC that is not focused on the issues that matter, is not really working to solve problems, and is passing policies that are pushing the American Dream further away from people devaluing hard work, making our dollar not go as far as it used to, unleashing chaos at the border and being soft on crime and creating a culture of really lack of respect for law enforcement that’s making our cities less safe,” said Coughlin.
“And I think people are fed up with it,” the Republican said.
A poll from Cygnal from July 28-30 found Sykes leading Coughlin, 44% to 40%. The race is rated a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report. But Coughlin is no stranger to tight races; he’s won seven toss-up elections, two of which he flipped from blue to red, during his time in the state legislature and as the only Republican to serve as clerk of the Stow Municipal Court.
“Equally important to getting elected to those positions is knowing how to represent a 50/50 district or a toss-up district,” Coughlin said. “So what I learned is, obviously, you listen to everybody. You don’t skip doors. You talk to Democrats and Republicans alike.”
Coughlin said he’s aware that he’s going places in the districts that Republicans traditionally do not go, such as meeting with minority communities and speaking with community leaders — “some of whom have not sat down with a Republican candidate or office holder in a very long time, and it’s been refreshing conversations.”
A change the Republican has noticed dramatically, he said, is how much the concerns of Republicans and Democrats line up — an outcome he thinks will work in his favor as a GOP candidate running in a purple district in a widely red state.
“Typically, when you knock on a Democrat door and then you knock on a Republican door, you will hear two very different sets of concerns,” Coughlin said. “Maybe their top two issues are different. In this election, it has been unanimous across the board, every single door. It is the cost of living crisis and the border. People are angry about it.”
He said voters have expressed anger and frustration at the southern border crisis, accusing Sykes of supporting “every step of it.” On his end, he promised to continue his reputation as a “workhorse, not a show pony” and reach out across the aisle to deliver for Ohioans in the 13th District.
Merrin blasts Kaptur for being ‘rubber stamp’ for ‘far left’
Derek Merrin, a former state representative, is pitching himself as a soldier against the “far left,” accusing Kaptur of being in lock-step with the Biden-Harris administration on the border, economy, and other policy areas. The race is rated “lean Democrat” by Cook Political Report.
In statements to the Washington Examiner, Merrin said it is time for “a new generation of leadership” and that Ohio hasn’t had a “true champion in Congress” for decades. Kaptur is the longest-serving lawmaker in Ohio’s congressional delegation, having held her seat in the 9th District since 1983. She has served longer than Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is facing a toss-up, competitive race against Bernie Moreno.
“Northwest Ohioans are sick and tired of the failed status quo, and that’s exactly what we’re getting with Marcy Kaptur,” Merrin said. “Kaptur has been serving in Congress for over four decades, but she’s only passed five bills through the House during her tenure, and she’s been a rubber stamp for the far left of the Democrat Party.”
Following the trademark talking points of the GOP cycle, Merrin is focusing on the border and cost-of-living as he appeals to voters. He argues the issues are not partisan; “they’re issues that we all face.”
“Put simply, I want what is best for our communities that have been left behind for far too long by career politicians like Marcy Kaptur,” Merrin said. “I have a history of working across the aisle to deliver results for Ohio – whether that was as Mayor for the City of Waterville, or as a state representative for Lucas County.”
In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Kaptur appealed to the working-class, a bloc of voters Republicans hope to encapsulate with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) on the ticket. She said voters in the 9th District are aware of her bipartisan work to pass legislation to support working families and bring products and jobs back to Ohio.
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“Ohioans know I have stood up to leaders of both parties when they push unfair trade deals that hurt us all or let Wall Street greed run rampant,” Kaptur said. “My opponent has spent his entire career bellying up to the same special interests who would throw every family in Northwest Ohio under the bus to pad their profits with a few more dollars.”
“Voters know Derek Merrin is a corporate puppet and that I will leave no stone unturned to deliver for Ohio families,” the congresswoman continued.