Ohio’s 9th Congressional District could be key in deciding who will control the House of Representatives next year.
Voters will cast their ballot in the district—which stretches from liberal Toledo to conservative Fremont, the home of former President Rutherford B. Hayes—on March 19.
The GOP candidates looking to take on 21-term Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) are real estate owner and former mayor of Napoleon, Ohio, Steve Lankenau; state Rep. Derek Merrin; and former state Rep. Craig Riedel.
In an interview with The Epoch Times on March 18, Mr. Merrin labeled Ms. Kaptur, who has been in Congress since 1983, as “completely out of step with the majority of folks in northwest Ohio.”
Additionally, his experience in the Ohio House of Representatives, where he is the GOP leader, qualifies him to be in the U.S. House, he says. He casts himself as anti-establishment.
In an interview with The Epoch Times on March 17, Mr. Lankenau—who claimed he walked 725 miles canvassing door to door between Nov. 1 and March 17—painted himself as a right-of-center outsider who is unafraid to go against his own party.
Unlike Mr. Merrin, Mr. Lankenau said that Ms. Kaptur shows up at the county fairs and listens to her constituents.
He called Mr. Riedel, Mr. Merrin, and Ms. Kaptur career politicians. He blasted his GOP opponents as “extreme.”
For example, Mr. Lankenau said, he has reached out to the unions, which Ms. Kaptur “has had locked up for some 35-40 years now.” He cited that 45 percent of the union workers in the district are conservative or lean right, but they are against right to work—a policy championed by the GOP as giving workers the option of whether to join a union as opposed to being forced to do so.
Mr. Lankenau noted that Mr. Merrin and Mr. Riedel have supported right-to-work, which is “the most-hated legislation by the unions,” and therefore those two “will not get an audience with union members, let alone inside the union hall to even speak to them, because they threaten union members’ livelihood.”
The district, Mr. Lankenau said, “is one of the most highly unionized districts in the country.”
Additionally, remarked Mr. Lankenau, what separates him from Mr. Merrin and Mr. Riedel is that he is pro-life—but with exceptions when the mother’s life is in danger, or in cases of rape or incest—whereas his opponents are more stringent on the issue.
In 2022, a judge blocked a six-week abortion ban and last November, Ohio voters cast their ballot in a referendum to keep abortion legal until viability, which is usually 22-24 weeks.
Mr. Lankenau does not support a federal abortion ban and stated that the issue should be left to the states.
Mr. Riedel, 57, lost the support of House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) after a recording came to light, courtesy of major Trump supporter Charlie Kirk’s radio show, in which Mr. Riedel said of President Trump: “I think he is arrogant. I don’t like the way he calls people names. I just don’t think that’s very becoming of a president.”
The original date of the audio recording is uncertain.
Mr. Lankenau hit at Mr. Riedel for reversing course so quickly and endorsing the former president in light of the audio.
“You have every right as a Republican as an American to be for Trump or against Trump,” he said. “You don’t have a right to be both in the same day.”
Mr. Merrin jumped into the race in December after the audio came to light, even though Mr. Riedel had already about faced to throw his support behind President Trump.
Mr. Lankenau said he will support the presumptive GOP nominee.
Mr. Riedel’s campaign did not respond to a request for an interview.
Like Mr. Riedel, Mr. Lankenau, also a fiscal conservative, said he would introduce a balanced budget amendment if elected to Congress. Such an amendment has repeatedly been introduced in Congress but to no avail.
Additionally, Mr. Merrin said part of his first order of business in the House would be dealing with the crisis at the southern border.
However, an issue where Mr. Lankenau has gone against the GOP is on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, whereas his party has staunchly stood behind Israel and rejected calls for a permanent ceasefire.
However, said Mr. Lankenau, a ceasefire cannot be unconditional and that a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians would require terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to get out of the way.
Mr. Lankenau noted that there is a significant Muslim population in Toledo, second to Dearborn, Michigan.
But a key demographic in the 9th Congressional District is independent voters in Lucas County, which includes Toledo. It is the largest county in the district that, Mr. Lankenau said, “is half of the votes of the entire district in one of the seven counties.”
“You have roughly ... 15-to-18 percent of Republicans, 15-to-18 percent registered Democrats,” he said. “And all the rest, let’s do the math, about 60 percent is independents. That’s how important it is.
“And we as a party are throwing it away, time after time, by nominating the most extreme candidate out there that makes us feel good.”
At the end of the day, predicted Mr. Lankenau, those independents will determine the election.
Mr. Merrin echoed that sentiment and said that halting Ms. Kaptur’s momentum in Lucas County will be key to flipping the seat.
Mr. Merrin remarked that the issues he is running on, such as border security and fiscal responsibility, resonate with independents.
Lastly, the final pitches Mr. Merrin and Mr. Lankenau have for voters is that they are the conservative who will finally defeat Ms. Kaptur.
Mr. Merrin touted himself as “a true conservative,” while Mr. Lankenau as “a solid conservative” with an appeal to a broad range of voters who can give the GOP a chance to send Ms. Kaptur packing.
