HOLLAND, Ohio — For years the Republican party has failed to put up a serious challenger to Ohio 9th District Representative Marcy Kaptur and Senator Sherrod Brown.
In 2024, however, the party likes its chances to unseat the long-time Democratic congresspeople.
To emphasize how confident they are, the party brought in some big names on Saturday to help put candidates Derek Merrin and Bernie Moreno over the finish line.
Merrin is running against Kaptur while Moreno is taking on Brown.
“It takes a special kind of person to come in on a Saturday, giving up your free time to knock on doors, to make sure the republican conservative principles we all hold stay in control of Ohio,” said Ohio State Representative from Sylvania Josh Williams, who took part in the event.
Wish less than two weeks left until the election and inside Lucas County's Republican headquarters, a group of politicians and voters kicked off their door knocking campaign for the two Ohio republican candidates.
"We feel very good, I mean the country needs a change, we can see that in all the numbers, so our feeling is strong,” said Alex Triantafilou, Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party.
Still, there are indications that at least one of the candidates is facing an uphill battle.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s polling data, Merrin is currently trailing his political rival Marcy Kaptur by 10 points.
The path to victory for Moreno seems to have fewer obstacles. He and incumbent senator Sherrod Brown are neck and neck in the polls.
If either Republican wins, it would mean a big shake up to the political status quo of the state and possibly even the nation.
To try and prevent that from happening, a group of protesters led by Lucas County Democrats and the UAW’s community action program showed up outside Republican headquarters to call out Moreno.
“He does not live up to the values of Northwest Ohio or all of Ohio, he's been lying in the media and we wanted to confront his lies to his face,” said UAW Local 14 President Tony Totty.
Later in the afternoon, at a get out to vote rally, challenger Derek Merrin made his pitch to Republican voters.
“I decided we're going to win this seat and make sure the Republicans hold the U.S. house because I love our country too much, we've all worked too hard to let our country go down.”
Merrin was supported by one of the party’s biggest names at the rally, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who flew in from Washington to back Merrin in the final days of the campaign.
"I've been out here a couple times, because I feel personally responsible because I recruited this man to run,” said Speaker Johnson.
Johnson’s presence emphasized how critical the race for Ohio’s District 9 is for both Republicans and Democrats.
"I think you'll understand this is seen by everyone around the country as what may be the best opportunity to flip a blue seat to red, right here in Ohio 9,” said Johnson.
Representative Kaptur has represented District 9 since 1983. Senator Brown has held his seat since 2007.
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