By CQ-Roll Call’s Daniela Altimari
Washington Growing older Since last year’s devastating election defeats, calls for Democratic members to resign and create room for a new generation of leaders have grown.
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However, Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in Congress history, who turned 79 last month, has mostly been left out of the awkward discussions about the party’s old guard.
First elected to the House in 1983, Kaptur is a working-class populist from the heartland who has continued to win in a state that has turned redder in recent years.
In 2026, she hopes to continue that run.
I’m a cheerful individual. In an interview, she stated, “I know this is what I was meant to do, and God has given me good health.” If the people desire it, I want to stay in service.
However, a rising field of Republicans seeking to defeat Kaptur and the possibility of new boundaries that would make her battleground district, which is anchored in Toledo, even less welcoming to Democrats might make her fight for a 23rd term her most difficult season to date.
Both former state representative Derek Merrin and state representative Josh Williams began their bids for the GOP nomination in Ohio’s 9th District this week. Kaptur defeated Merrin, the party’s 2024 nominee, by less than a percentage point. They join two veterans of the Air Force, Wayne Kinsel, who filed to run last week, and Alea Nadeem, who was the first Republican to enter the campaign. Rob McColley, the president of the Ohio Senate, may possibly run for the position if it is redesigned to include his home county of Henry County.
As a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Kaptur has so far defied Ohio’s rightward trend by fostering strong relationships with her constituents, standing up for farmers and workers, and directing funds toward significant domestic initiatives. Her district, which spans northwest Ohio and borders Lake Erie, is one of 13 Democratic-held districts in the US that Donald Trump won in 2024.
Republicans believe that keeping their House majority depends on beating Kaptur. This week, Kaptur was part of an ad campaign by the National Republican Congressional Committee that targeted 25 vulnerable Democrats who voted against Trump’s massive spending and tax reduction plan.
In an email, NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon stated that Marcy Kaptur has been in office for more than 40 years, yet in her own words, she has failed the hardworking men and women of Northwest Ohio time and time again. This will be her final term in Congress, and Ohioans will hold her accountable.
However, several Republicans have expressed worries that the party’s chances could be weakened by a crowded and contentious primary.
The GOP’s chances in the area have previously been harmed by messy primary contests, and Democrats are hoping that Kaptur will once again benefit from the fragmented field.
In an email, Katie Smith, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, stated that Washington Republicans have squandered millions of dollars in an attempt to gain this seat. Marcy will fight the special interests once more in order to continue serving Ohio, regardless of which corporate lapdog who wants to destroy Medicaid and Social Security emerges victorious from a contentious and costly Republican race.
The forthcoming new congressional map for Ohio may influence the race’s dynamics.
Due to the lack of bipartisan support for the previous redistricting attempt in 2022, the state Constitution mandates that new lines be authorized prior to the 2026 midterm elections. The redistricting process is complex, and Ohio Republicans, who are in charge of it, have not indicated how many of the five Democratic-held seats in the state they plan to redraw. However, Kaptur is viewed as the most vulnerable, as is Democratic Representative Emilia Sykes.
According to Kaptur’s interview, state Republicans are attempting to gerrymander in a way that is really unjust to the populace.
According to Sam Nelson, a professor of political science at the University of Toledo, Kaptur would probably have an easier time winning reelection without a redraw, particularly in a midterm campaign that often keeps the party out of the White House.
He claimed that she had done an excellent job of outperforming other Democratic contenders. She is a traditional member of Congress who is constantly in the constituency. She visits during election seasons, but she doesn’t live in D.C. You’ve attended every ribbon-cutting and met everyone after more than 40 years.
“The district’s central city, Toledo, is still reliably Democratic, but Marcy Kaptur might be the only Democrat who could still win it if redistricting adds even more GOP voters,” Nelson added.
Over the course of Kaptur’s career, Ohio—once a stronghold of working-class Democrats—has become much more Republican. There were roughly equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in the delegation when she got to the House. Only five of the state’s fifteen seats are now held by Democrats.
Although Kaptur has not been impacted by the age controversy shaking Democratic politics, her Republican rivals have already used it in their pitch.
In contrast to Kaptur’s lengthy service in Congress, Nadeem’s campaign emphasizes her outsider status. (She has also attacked her GOP opponents’ legislative records.)
Tim Edson, a spokesperson for Nadeem’s campaign, stated in an email that Republicans cannot defeat a 40-year career politician with more inexperienced, self-serving career politicians since control of the House passes through northwest Ohio.
Williams focused on the incumbent’s age, claiming that Marcy Kaptur has been in office longer than I have been alive. In 2023, Williams became the first Black Republican elected to the Ohio House in fifty years.
Merrin, a four-term member of the Ohio House, felt the same way.
He declared that new leadership was needed. Let’s send a conservative combatant to Congress and retire Marcy Kaptur.
Kaptur has highlighted her longevity rather than downplayed it.
“I can deliver more because I have the highest seniority in the region,” she said, referring to funding for a new mental health treatment center and infrastructure upgrades at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport.
From the redistricting dispute to the choice of the GOP candidate who will receive his support, Trump is probably going to have a significant influence on the outcome of the election.
According to projections by The Downballot, Kaptur may find it difficult to navigate the Trump agenda in a seat he carried by seven points the previous year. She claimed to grasp the appeal of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” rhetoric and to have long supported economic populism.
She said, “Can you imagine living in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where my former college boyfriend resides, and the bottom of the rug has been pulled out economically?” Imagine that the coal industry vanished in Appalachia, where you come from. Assume that the automotive sector was outsourced in your country, which is where I come from.
According to Kaptur, the 1990s saw my own party go awry by adopting free trade. And we have paid a heavy price for it all over this nation.
Nevertheless, Kaptur argued that although Trump’s speech was well-crafted, working-class people were harmed by his program, accusing the administration of proposing cuts that would harm rural hospitals while pursuing tax benefits that would benefit the wealthiest Americans.
She predicted that he would prove to be a false prophet. The individuals I represent are being harmed by his actions, even though his pledge was correct.
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