Congressional Races

1st District SW Ohio. Includes Cincinnati and western suburbs. (Counties: Hamilton, Butler.)

Incumbent Steve Chabot (R) defends against John Cranley (D), Cincinnati City Councilman, who campaigned well and lost narrrowly to Chabot in 2002. Chabot's opponent did well (44%) in 2004, a bad year for Dems.

2nd District SW Ohio. Includes eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, Lebanon, Portsmouth. (Counties: Adams, Brown, Clermont, Pike, Hamilton, Warren, Scioto.)

Jean Schmidt (R) faces a strong primary challenge from former Congressman Bob McEwen (R). (State Rep. Tom Brinkman (R) and insurance agent Paul Hall (R) have also been mentioned as challengers, but haven't declared.) Whoever emerges from the Republican primary will face either health care administrator Jim Parker (D), engineer Jeff Sinnard (D), or businessman Thor Jacobs (D). (Another possible Democratic candidates is David Pepper (D) , but he has not declared.)

3rd District SW Ohio. Includes Dayton and southern suburbs, Kettering, Miamisburg. (Counties: Clinton, Highland, Montgomery, Warren.)

Incumbent Michael Turner (R) will face David Fierst (D), an attorney and army veteran, or Stephanie Studebaker (D), a veterinarian and Deaniac.

4th District West Central Ohio. Includes Mansfield, Findlay, Marion, Lima, Bellefontaine, Sidney. (Counties: Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Marion, Morrow, Richland, Shelby, Wyandot.)

Incumbent Michael Oxley is retiring. The major Republican contenders are State Rep. Mike Gilb (R) and State Sen. Jim Jordan (R). Local Republican officials Ed Olson (R) and Jim Stahl are also in.

The Democratic candidate is Richard Siferd (D), an attorney.

5th District North Central Ohio. Includes Norwalk, Bucyrus, Tiffin, Defiance, Bowling Green, Fremont. (Counties: Ashland, Crawford, Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood, Wyandot.)

Incumbent Paul Gillmor (R) will again face local activist Robin Weirauch (D).

6th District SE Ohio. Includes Athens, Marietta, Steubenville, East Liverpool. (Counties: Athens, Belmont, Columbia, Gallia, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mahoning, Meigs, Monroe, Noble, Scioto, Washington.)

Incumbent Ted Strickland (D) is running for Governor. Veteran State Sen. Charlie Wilson (D) and teacher Diane diCarlo Murphy will compete for the Democratic nomination. The leading Republican candidate is Ohio House Speaker Pro Tem Chuck Blasdel (R), with evangelical paster Tim Ginter (R), county official Danny Harmon (R), and consultant Richard Holt (R) also in the mix.

7th District South Central Ohio. Includes southwest suburbs of Columbus, Lancaster, Xenia, Circleville, Springfield. (Counties: Clark, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Perry, Pickaway, Ross.)

Incumbent David Hobson (R) will face corporate lawyer Sharen Neuhardt (D).

8th District West Ohio. Includes northern Dayton suburbs, Troy, Hamilton, Fairfield. (Counties: Butler, Darke, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble.)

Incumbent John Boehner (R-West Chester) is unopposed.

9th District North Central Ohio. Includes Toledo, Sylvania, Sandusky. (Counties: Lucas, Erie, Ottawa, Lorain.)

Veteran incumbent Marcy Kaptur (D) has resisted recent pressure from union leaders to enter the Governor's race.

10th District NE Ohio. Includes western suburbs of Cleveland. (County: Cuyahoga.)

Incumbent Dennis Kucinich (D) faces primary challenger Barbara Ferris (D) and Republican opponent Jason Werner (R).

11th District NE Ohio. Includes Cleveland and eastern suburbs. (County: Cuyahoga.)

Incumbent Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) is unopposed.

12th District Central Ohio. Includes northwest suburbs of Columbus, Dublin, Delaware. (Counties: Delaware, Franklin, Licking.)

Nick Singh (D) will take on incumbent Patrick Tiberi (D-Columbus).

13th District NE Ohio. Includes Akron and eastern suburbs, Cuyahoga Falls, Lorain, Elyria, Brnswick, Strongsville. (Counties: Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit.)

Incumbent Sherrod Brown is running for Senate. This is considered a very winnable Democratic seat, if not an outright safe one, and the jockeying for position is underway. The declared Democratic candidates are Chardon labor lawyer and former State Rep. Betty Sutton (D), who was warmly received into the race by labor leaders and the DCCC, and long-time Akron attorney, Democratic activist and WWII vet John Wolfe (D), and on the Republican side businessman Joe Ortega (R). According to a recent post at the excellent blog Ohio13, and also this editorial in the Akron Beacon Journal, the bid by former Congressman Tom Sawyer (D) to enter the race is in trouble due to poor fund raising among individual donors and lingering labor hostility over his "yes" vote on NAFTA. On the other hand, photogenic Youngstown-bred shopping center heiress Capri Cafaro, loser to Stephen LaTourette in OH-14 in 2004, is a likely candidate, and surprisingly has received an early endorsement from UAW Local 1714 in Lordstown. According to Ohio13, Lorain County Commissioner Ted Kalo (D), former State Rep. Walter Jones (D), and Lorain Mayor Craig Foltin (R) probably will not run, despite swirling rumors to the contrary. I've also heard the names of Lorain State Rep. Joe Koziura (D), attorney Michael Beer (R), and even Dennis' brother Gary Kucinich (D) mentioned.

14th District NE Ohio. Includes northeast suburbs of Akron, Willoughby, Mentor, Ashtabula. (Counties: Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Portage, Summit, Trumbull.)

Incumbent Steven LaTourette (R) will face either law professor Lewis Katz (D) or meteorologist and activist Palmer Peterson (D).

15th District Central Ohio. Includes Columbus and western suburbs, Hilliard, Marysville. (Counties: Franklin, Madison, Union.)

Entrenched incumbent Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) will face energetic opposition from firebrand Mary Jo Kilroy (D).

16th District NE Ohio. Includes Canton, Massillon, Alliance, Wadsworth, Medina, Wooster, Ashland. (Counties: Ashland, Medina, Stark, Wayne.)

Incumbent Ralph Regula (R-Canton) has represented this district since 1973. Jeff Seemann (D) will oppose him again.

17th District NE Ohio. Includes Youngstown, Niles, Warren, Kent. (Counties: Mahoning, Portage, Summit, Trumbull.)

Incumbent Tim Ryan (D) against ... anyone?

18th District East Central Ohio. Includes Chillicothe, Zanesville, Mt. Vernon, Newark and New Philadelphia. (Counties: Athens, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Ross, Tuscarawas, Vinton.)

Incumbent Bob Ney (R-Bellaire) looms large as the next target in the Abramoff investigation. There's much talk that Ney's resignation is inevitable, but publicly Ney and the Ohio Republican Party deny any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, we have a spirited contest on the Democratic side among Dover Law Director Zack Space (D-Dover), Chillicothe Mayor Joe Sulzer, Jr (D), and training consultant Joe Woollard (D).