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U.S. Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Salem, is running for a third term in Ohio's 6th District.
Rulli's two-plus years in Congress have been peppered with criticisms from opponents. Among them are his clear loyalty to President Donald Trump and his administration and apparent unwillingness to participate in town hall events in his district.
Then there are the stock trades. In an Aug. 12, 2026, story, The Vindicator's David Skolnick reported that Rulli failed to timely disclose 22 stock trades, including some dating back to late 2024, a violation of a federal law designed to prevent insider trading by members of Congress.
Rulli said in his endorsement interview with our editorial board that he's particularly proud of being named to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
"That's monumental," he said. "It's the No. 1 committee of Congress. ... There's Appropriations, Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce. ... It's about $3.9 trillion a year that Energy and Commerce is in charge of."
If Rulli defeats Democratic challenger Elizabeth Kirtley, he'd be part of his third Congress. He joined the 118th in a special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson (now Youngstown State president), defeating Democrat Michael Kripchak. Then he beat Kripchak in a regular election in 2024 to join the 119th Congress.
"I'm hoping to enter the 120th Congress, which would be my third Congress," he said. "I've done a lot of work in the two years and four or five months that I’ve been there."
As a relatively new member of the House, Rulli said he's proud of the "three or four bills" he sponsored that left the House. He said he stands by his emphasis on social bills and also the money he has worked to bring to the Mahoning Valley and to the entirety of the 6th District.
"You could go as low as $9 million, and if you want to include some of the big projects for the state, upwards of $20 to $35 million," Rulli said.
But those concerns mentioned earlier and growing dissatisfaction with the Trump administration at the halfway point of his second term, has Democrats hoping Rulli is vulnerable. His district, after all, stretches far south and west of his Mahoning Valley comfort zone.
But the Democrats couldn't produce a legitimate challenger from a seven-person primary won by Elizabeth Kirtley, who emerged from the field with 12,138 of 39,067 (31.5%) votes in May.
Kirtley is a Kent State University graduate and small-business owner who listed no work history when she filled out an election questionnaire for The Vindicator in March. She lives in New Philadelphia.
Kirtley said her priorities are abolishing ICE, ensuring fair and safe elections and making abortion a federally guaranteed right by codifying Roe. She was critical of Rulli's work in Congress.
"He’s not doing a good job for us whatsoever," Kirtley said. "He is more concerned about pleasing the president than actually pleasing his constituents."
Kirtley also criticized Rulli's support of the war in Iran and those late stock-trade declarations.
"We need someone ... who is used to living amongst the common people," she said. "My opponent is probably the richest person in Congress."
Not true. Rulli -- with a net worth believed to be about $26 million according to online sources -- isn't even the richest member of Congress in the tri-state area. West Virginia Republican Sen. Jim Justice dwarfs Rulli with a net worth of more than $664 million.
Uninformed opinions like that are among the reasons our editorial board could not seriously consider endorsing Kirtley.
She also said she wanted to abolish ICE, but in nearly the next breath changed course.
"It needs to be completely restructured," Kirtley finally said. "Abolishing ICE as we know it now, absolutely. Abolishing ICE, like, [returning it to] what [it was under] President Obama, that type of immigration enforcement. That’s what we need."
Kirtley didn't seem to know that Tom Homan, the current director of ICE, had the same job during the Obama administration.
Kirtley also mentioned backing the establishment of an agency that would ensure factual news reporting, but struggled to explain how such an entity would regulate the reporting of news, who would be part of such a group and if that even was permissible under the First Amendment of the Constitution. She said that suggestion was in response to "one particular" news network, but it seems to us such an entity could create more problems than it could solve.
Finally, we're concerned about a 6th District without the representation of someone like Rulli, who is from the Mahoning Valley, and whose work in Congress has and can continues to bring money and assistance here.
"My opponent won't care about the Mahoning Valley," Rulli said.
So we endorse Rulli for a return to Congress in the Nov. 3 election and, at the same time, call on him to be more accessible to his constituents.
We'd also like to see him show more willingness to push back against some of the current administration's increasing silliness over the next two years.
SCRIPTURE
And when the Chief Shepherd (Christ) appears, you will receive the [conqueror's] unfading crown of glory. 1 Peter 5:4 AMP