Republican Mike Carey handily defeated Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo to keep the Ohio’s 15th Congressional District in the GOP camp in a special election last night according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The win means that Democrats retain just a seven-seat advantage in the U.S. House with one vacant seat left to be filled by special elections.
Carey’s victory garnered a special congratulatory message from one of his prominent endorsers.
NEW!
“Congratulations to Mike Carey on a fantastic victory in Ohio. I am very proud to have endorsed him early and strongly. He will be a great congressman!” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/P5fghSBODj
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) November 3, 2021
“Congratulations to Mike Carey on a fantastic victory in Ohio,” said a communique by former President Donald Trump.
“I am very proud to have endorsed him early and strongly,” Trump added. “He will be a great congressman.”
Carey, who worked previously in the coal industry, ran as a Trump Republican and as a political outsider.
“Believe me, we have too many career politicians in Washington,” he said, according to the Epoch Times. “That’s the last thing that I will ever be.”
The seat was vacated earlier this year by Republican Rep. Steve Stivers, who left to take up the top job at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
The Cook Political Report had previously rated the race in Ohio’s 15th District as “likely” Republican.
In addition to Trump, other well-known GOP leaders also pitched in to ensure it did not fall into Democrat hands, the Dispatch reported.
“Former Vice President Mike Pence and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy visited the district to stump for him in recent weeks, while the National Republican Congressional Committee funneled money toward his campaign,” said the newspaper.
Tuesday’s elections saw several Republican victories in key bellwether races ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
While Republicans are hoping the policy failures of the Biden administration and congressional Democrats will help them regain the House majority next year, for now they will have to settle for the status quo.
In the Ohio race to succeed former Rep. Marcia Fudge, who left Congress to become President Joe Biden’s Housing and Urban Development secretary, Democrat Shontel Brown defeated Republican candidate Laverne Gore, CNN reported.
At present, the House still has one special election to go before the 2022 general election in which all members will be up for reelection.
Democrats running to replace Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who died earlier this year, remain in a deadlocked primary with all of the vote counted.
“With 100 percent of precincts reporting, health care executive Sheila Cherfilus–McCormick leads Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness 23.8 percent to 23.7 percent, a margin of just 31 votes,” said The Hill.
The winner will square off against Republican Jason Mariner on Jan. 11 in the heavily Democratic South Florida district.
