Thirteen candidates, including incumbent U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson and Dave Joyce, are among those who filed as candidates in the two congressional districts that include the Mahoning Valley.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved the new congressional district lines Wednesday, two days before Friday’s deadline for U.S. House candidates to file nominating petitions.

The district lines are still in question because the Ohio Supreme Court needs to determine if the map is constitutional.

The primary election is scheduled for May 3. County boards of election still need to verify the validity of signatures on the candidates’ petitions before certifying them to the ballot.

6TH DISTRICT

The commission drew a map with all of Mahoning County in a new 6th Congressional District along with all of Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison, Monroe, Noble and Washington counties and portions of Stark and Tuscarawas counties.

Mahoning is the district’s most-populous county. Nominating petitions for the 6th District seat were filed with Mahoning County’s board of elections.

Johnson, R-Marietta, first elected to the U.S. House in 2010, filed for re-election in the 6th.

“I know things remain somewhat in flux with the districts, but I look forward to continuing to be” the voice of residents of eastern and southeastern Ohio “no matter where the final lines are drawn,” Johnson said. “I’m going to keep working hard every day to honor and earn the trust they’ve placed in me, regardless of their party affiliation or ZIP code.”

The district favors Republicans 59.06 percent to 40.94 percent for Democrats based on statewide partisan voting results for the past decade, according to commission data.

Johnson has represented portions of Mahoning County as well as most of the counties in the district since being elected to Congress.

He had $1,260,200 in his campaign fund as of Dec. 31, the most recent filing deadline.

Republican Michael S. Morgenstern of Poland, a first-time candidate and a former Marine, filed to challenge Johnson in the GOP primary.

Also turning in petitions as a Republican are John Anderson of Enon, which is in Clark County, west of Columbus and several miles from the 6th District; and Gregory M. Zelenitz of Belmont.

Anderson is originally from Youngstown and served in the Air Force.

He ran in the 2020 Republican primary in the 10th District, closer to where he resides, but finished a distant second with 7.9 percent of the vote. Anderson lost to incumbent Republican Michael Turner of Dayton, who got 86.4 percent of the vote.

Congressional candidates don’t have to live in the district but must be Ohio residents.

Zelenitz filed to run for a congressional seat in 2006, but was not on the ballot.

On the Democratic side, those who filed are Louis G. Lyras of Campbell, Shawna Roberts of Belmont, Eric S. Jones of Austintown, Martin Alexander of Boardman and Michael L. Kripchak of Youngstown.

President and CEO of Corcon Inc., a bridge painting company in Lowellville, Lyras ran in 2020 as a Republican in the current 13th District, finishing a distant second with 11.9 percent of the vote out of seven candidates. Lyras then endorsed U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland, in the general election over Republican Christina Hagan of Marlboro, who got 65.8 percent of the vote in the GOP primary that year. Ryan won the general election by 8.6 percent.

Lyras had filed nominating petitions in 2018 as an independent candidate in the 13th District race, but failed to make the general election ballot.

Roberts was the Democratic nominee in the 6th District in 2018 and 2020. She lost to Johnson by 38.6 percent in 2018 and by 48.8 percent in 2020.

Alexander filed last year in the Democratic primary for the 11th Congressional District, which includes portions of Cuyahoga and Summit counties. He finished 10th out of 12 candidates in that primary with 0.1 percent of the vote.

Alexander said he was raised in Shaker Heights, which is in the 11th, moved to Youngstown in 2010 and Boardman in 2020.

“With redistricting, the district does swing on paper Republican, but I’m not dissuaded by that,” said Alexander, an attorney with Epiq Global.

Jones, who develops mobile apps for NLMK, and Kripchak are first-time candidates.

14TH DISTRICT

In the 14th District, Joyce, R-Bainbridge, is among three Republicans to file for the position. He was first elected in 2012 to the U.S. House.

The district includes all of Trumbull, Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga counties and all but two communities in Portage County.

Trumbull is the district’s second-most populous county behind Lake. Candidates filed nominating petitions with the Lake County Board of Elections.

Joyce has represented a portion of Trumbull as well as all or part of the other counties in the new 14th District during his time in Congress.

He had $1,379,197 in his campaign fund as of Dec. 31.

The district favors Republicans 54.83 percent to 45.17 percent for Democrats based on partisan voting trends, according to the redistricting commission.

The two other Republicans to file are Bevin Cormack of Chesterland and Patrick Gene Awtrey of Parma Heights.

Cormack said on her website she is a “Bible-believing Christian mom with an exceptional understanding of global agendas and a strong discernment for tyranny.”

Awtrey works for a private equity investment company. He resides in Cuyahoga County, which isn’t part of the newly-drawn district.

On the Democratic side, Matt Kilboy of Deerfield, a health care consultant and former member of the Navy Nurse Corps, was the only candidate to turn in nominating petitions.

Democrat Brenden Kelley, an attorney from Novelty, had been campaigning and raising money for this race for months, but he didn’t file.

Kelley, who couldn’t be reached this week to comment, had given $220,750 of his own money to his campaign and raised $145,349 from donors as of Dec. 31, the most recent date for campaign finance reports. He had spent $139,429 on his campaign as of Dec. 31.

Congress

candidates

Candidates who filed for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 6th District and 14th District by Friday’s deadline. The candidates need to be certified. A * denotes incumbents.

6TH DISTRICT

•Bill Johnson* (R)

•John Anderson (R)

•Michael Morgenstern (R)

•Gregory M. Zelenitz (R)

•Eric S. Jones (D)

•Martin Alexander (D)

•Louis G. Lyras (D)

•Michael L. Kripchak (D)

•Shawna Roberts (D)

14TH DISTRICT

•Dave Joyce* (R)

•Bevin Cormack (R)

•Patrick Gene Awtrey (R)

•Matt Kilboy (D)

dskolnick@vindy.com