COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Eighteen candidates are vying for a U.S. House seat in central Ohio that Republicans have held for 35 years and Democrats now see as competitive.
Democrat Conor Lamb’s razor-thin victory earlier this month in a Pennsylvania congressional district that heavily supported GOP President Donald Trump is buoying Democrats’ hopes they could seize the 12th congressional district long controlled by Republicans.
Republican Pat Tiberi represented the district from 2001 until his retirement Jan. 15. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich held it for 18 years before that.
Ten Republicans, seven Democrats and a Green Party candidate are vying for the seat. Two separate primaries will be held — one for Tiberi’s unexpired term and the other for the full two-year congressional term that begins in January.