It’s Election Day in Ohio and Indiana, where voters will pick their party nominees in primary races ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
While Ohio has made headlines for its Senate and gubernatorial races, there are several House primaries taking place Tuesday in the Buckeye State that are worth paying attention to.
In Indiana, Sen. Todd Young is unopposed in the Republican primary and isn’t expected to have much difficulty winning a second term this fall. But a couple of Republican House primaries warrant a watch.
The primaries in both states are taking place under congressional lines that were redrawn in redistricting following the 2020 census. Both the Indiana and Ohio maps were drawn by Republicans.
Former President Donald Trump has endorsed a number of Republican incumbents seen as strong bets for reelection in November, including Ohio Reps. Jim Jordan, Brad Wenstrup, Bill Johnson, Warren Davidson, Troy Balderson, Mike Carey, Bob Latta and Mike Turner, and Indiana Reps. Jim Banks, Jackie Walorski, Greg Pence, Victoria Spartz, Larry Bucshon and Jim Baird.
Here’s a look at the races we’re watching Tuesday:
Ohio’s 1st Congressional District
The real action in this race won’t take place until November. Longtime Rep. Steve Chabot is the default GOP nominee in his bid for a 14th term after his primary opponent dropped out last week, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Chabot has turned back well-funded Democratic challenges in recent cycles in his Cincinnati-area district, which became more Democratic in redistricting, going from a seat that backed Trump by 3 points in 2020 to one that would have supported Joe Biden by about 9 points. The fall election is once again expected to be competitive. Cincinnati City Council member Greg Landsman is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Ohio’s 7th Congressional District
This district was almost completely redrawn this year, transforming from a largely rural district to one that included more of the Cleveland suburbs. Republican Rep. Bob Gibbs is not running for reelection, citing frustration with the redistricting process. Former Trump aide Max Miller is the front-runner for the GOP nomination, with support from his former boss, and has dominated the field in fundraising. Podcast host Matthew Diemer is seeking the Democratic nomination, but Democrats will likely find it hard to flip a seat that would have backed Trump by 9 points in 2020.
Ohio’s 9th Congressional District
Republicans are looking to oust the longest-serving woman in US House history, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, in this Northwest Ohio district. Kaptur, who was first elected in 1982, has seen her district shift from a safe Democratic seat that currently stretches from Toledo to Cleveland along Lake Erie to a swing district that now pushes west from Toledo to the Indiana border. The leading Republican candidates include state Rep. Craig Riedel, state Sen. Theresa Gavarone and Air Force veteran JR Majewski. Kaptur could become the longest-serving woman in congressional history, surpassing former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, if she’s sworn into a 21st term next year. But she would first have to win reelection this fall in a district that Trump would have carried by 3 points in 2020.
Ohio’s 11th Congressional District
Rep. Shontel Brown and progressive challenger Nina Turner are facing off in a rematch for the Democratic nomination for a deep-blue Cleveland-area district. Biden weighed in on the race last week, throwing his support behind the incumbent. Brown, a former Cuyahoga County Council member, defeated Turner in an August special election to replace former Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge, who left to become Biden’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Turner, a former state senator and close ally of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, is hoping for a different result this time in a district that no longer stretches into Akron and that would have backed Biden by 58 points. The winner will be the heavy favorite in November.
Ohio’s 13th Congressional District
This Northeast Ohio district is up for grabs with Democratic incumbent Tim Ryan running for US Senate. The district changed significantly in redistricting and now includes all of Akron as well as Canton. Biden would have carried it by 3 points. Democrat Emilia Sykes, a former minority leader of the Ohio state House, is unopposed in her primary. On the GOP side, Trump has thrown his support behind attorney and conservative political commentator Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, who is also a former Miss Ohio USA. Gilbert served on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, including as co-chair of the Women for Trump coalition in 2020.
Indiana’s 1st Congressional District
Democratic Rep. Frank Mrvan, who is expected to easily win his primary, is seeking a second term in his northwest Indiana district that saw only minor changes in redistricting. Republicans looking to challenge him include Air Force veteran Jennifer-Ruth Green and former LaPorte mayor and Navy veteran Blair Milo. The National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting the district, which would have backed Biden by 8 points.
Indiana’s 9th Congressional District
Republican Rep. Trey Hollingsworth’s decision not to seek another term has opened up this southeast Indiana district, which now stretches to the Ohio border. It remains a safely GOP seat – which Trump would have carried by 27 points – so the winner of the Republican primary will likely be heading to Congress. GOP hopefuls include former state Sen. Erin Houchin, who ran for the seat in 2016 but lost to Hollingsworth in the primary, former US Rep. Mike Sodrel, who represented an earlier version of the district from 2005 to 2007, and Army veteran Stu Barnes-Israel, a first-time candidate who served in Afghanistan.
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