HUDSON, Ohio – With ten weeks to go until Election Day, some key races here in Ohio are garnering increasing attention across the country.
National parties have already donated millions of dollars to the U.S. Senate race between Sherrod Brown and Bernie Moreno, and now the race for northeast Ohio’s 13th Congressional District is drawing a visit from the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Ohio on Tuesday for a fundraising breakfast for Kevin Coughlin.
He is the Republican challenger to Democratic Congresswoman Emilia Sykes in a race many consider a tie.
Johnson said he believes the whole country is following this congressional race, and for good reason.
He said Republicans are confident they can win the seat in November, which will help them address issues such as the cost of living, the border crisis and violent crime.
Johnson said he supported Coughlin in his run for Congress because of his previous experience in the state legislature, where Coughlin demonstrated he was a problem solver, according to Johnson.
Coughlin said that given the close race between both parties, they are knocking on people’s doors because they know every vote counts.
“…on the first three issues the speaker mentioned, cost of living crisis, border and crime, we’re not just hearing from Republican voters. As much as people like to talk about a divided America, they seem to be very united about what’s wrong right now,” Coughlin said. “They know who’s to blame, and they’re looking for people to go out and fix these problems.”
“Because people are also looking across party lines and trying to find leaders who identify with the issues and the people and propose sensible solutions. And that’s exactly what Kevin Coughlin is doing and that’s why we’re so excited about his candidacy,” Johnson said.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to Sykes, but her team said she was unavailable for an interview on Tuesday.
Two years ago, Sykes earned her first term in Congress by winning the general election by less than five percentage points.
And with Republicans currently holding a nine-seat lead in the House, the stakes are rising in any race expected to be tough in November.
