U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, who is seeking his seventh two-year term in the U.S. House, faces two challengers in the Republican primary.

The winner of the March 19 Republican primary will face Democrat Brian Bob Kenteres of Mentor in the November general election.

Joyce, R-Bainbridge, was first elected to Congress in 2012 after 24 years as Geauga County prosecutor.

His Republican challengers are Elayne Cross of Kent, an author and motivational speaker as well as a Portage County Republican Party central committee member since 2012, and Kenneth Polke of Saybrook, a health insurance consultant and author who’s a former dentist.

Polke lost the 2020 Republican primary for the 32nd Ohio Senate District by 39.2% and unsuccessfully ran in 2010 for a congressional seat in Colorado.

Mark Zetzer of Russell had filed to run in the Republican primary but withdrew his candidacy. Zetzer ran in 2014 for a Cleveland-based congressional seat, losing by 59%.

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.

The district has a 10% Republican advantage based on voting trends in partisan statewide elections in the past decade. Joyce far exceeded that advantage in 2022 when he beat Democrat Matt Kilboy by 23.5%.

Joyce said: “I am running for reelection based on my record of delivering results for the 14th Congressional District and northeast Ohio. Throughout this session of Congress, my top priorities have been strengthening our regional economy, protecting and preserving the Great Lakes for future generations and securing our southern border. I’m proud to report that we have made significant progress on each of these items.”

Joyce added: “It is my fundamental belief that the best of America is yet to come. I work every day on behalf of my constituents to ensure the federal government is assisting rather than impeding our nation’s growth.”

Joyce said he’s been “a constant voice to cut unnecessary spending, grow our economy and support American jobs.”

Joyce said he’s sponsored and supported numerous bills to “help unleash our economic potential by focusing on issues like lowering taxes, boosting energy production, helping small businesses and improving cybersecurity.”

Joyce said he’s led “the effort to restore Lake Erie,” such as sponsoring the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which provides millions of dollars in federal funding to help the Great Lakes.

Joyce said he knows how much Lake Erie “means to our community from both a recreational and economic perspective.”

There is a “crisis at our southern border that we cannot continue to ignore,” Joyce said. “A wide-open southern border is the cause of an increase in drug and human trafficking that has become a nationwide issue.”

As chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s Homeland Security Subcommittee, Joyce said he has “made border security a top priority. Recently, I authored a homeland security appropriation package (that the House approved) that included funding to build the wall, increase the number of border agents and invest in new technology for border security.”

Cross said if elected she would focus on stabilizing the nation’s immigration policy, which is lax and has been exploited.

In addition to sex trafficking and those who die attempting to cross the southern border, Cross said: “Consider the real strain on basic services. Housing, schooling, feeding, health care and police services are overwhelmed. The stress is not equally distributed across all states or localities, but it is unsustainable. The president has too broad and extensive authority without clearly defined laws. Congress must act to stabilize immigration policy.”

Cross said the national debt is “a crisis that must be addressed through spending cuts and debt management.”

She said she’s “committed to cut the size and scope of the federal government,” such as through the elimination of annual raises for federal employees and identifying “redundancy and overlap in services” and streamlining processes to “bring clarity to how the people’s money is being spent.”

Cross wants to eliminate “government handouts,” saying “it’s time to lock up the U.S. piggy bank,” and simplify the tax code, probably through a flat tax.

“The federal government creates nothing and only has what they take from us,” she said. “The federal government must only take what is necessary to fulfill their duties within the limitations of the Constitution.”

Cross also proposes making the country’s international policy “clear and stable.”

This, she said, could be done by repealing the Authorization for Use of Military Force law and the Patriot Act, both passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The military force authorization, Cross said, gives too much power to the president, without congressional oversight, she said. The Patriot Act allows the president to label people as terrorists, “including citizens exercising their First Amendment rights,” Cross said.

Polke didn’t respond to numerous attempts to contact him to discuss his campaign.

Republican primary

14th Congressional District

Dave Joyce

Age: 66

Occupation: U.S. House member

Previous elected experience: U.S. House member first elected in 2012, former Geauga County prosecutor for 24 years

Goals: Strengthen our economy, secure the southern border, and protect and preserve the Great Lakes.

Elayne Cross

Age: 58

Occupation: Author and motivational speaker

Previous elected experience: Portage County Republican Party central committee member since 2012.

Goals: Spending and debt management, stabilize immigration policy and make the United States international policy clear and stable.

Kenneth Polke

Is also running in the Republican primary for the seat, but did not respond to attempts to contact him.