Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur defeats Derek Merrin for 22nd term

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) is projected to defeat Republican Derek Merrin in the state’s 9th Congressional District election, giving the longest-ever-serving congresswoman her 22nd term.

The Associated Press called the race in favor of Kaptur on Wednesday — 15 days after Election Day. As of Thursday at noon EST, Kaptur led over Merrin by just over 2,000 votes.

FiveThirtyEight gave Kaptur a relatively modest 83% chance of winning. Earlier this year, she surpassed Barbara Mikulski as the longest-serving woman in congressional history. Last year, she picketed with striking United Auto Worker members, where she dissed Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for it being his “first time” there.

Merrin’s path to the GOP nomination was cleared after previous candidate J.R. Majewski left the race in March over controversy of using an ableist slur to describe Special Olympics athletes. A state representative that shockingly lost an election for the speakership last year, he repeatedly voted against tenant rights. In 2017, he introduced an amendment to the state budget to strip cities of the authority to test water pipes for lead. He also introduced a bill that same year to rapidly evict tenants during holidays and weekends. He also accepted realtor lobby funds and spent over $42k on a mailing firm whose chief operating officer was charged with campaign finance felonies.