The race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District is one of the most competitive in the country in 2024, according to political analysts. That has something to do with how the district was redrawn three years ago, shaped by a charter amendment approved by Ohio voters in 2015.
In 2022, the race to fill the 13th district seat, which covers all of Summit County and parts of Stark and Portage, was called one of the most competitive races in the country by analysts. U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes won the race with 52.7% of the vote, according to the Associated Press.
In 2024, voters statewide have another opportunity to change the way congressional and statehouse maps are drawn, which could make elections in more of the state's congressional districts more competitive, just like the 13th.
The 13th district has almost an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, with 16.5% registered Democrats and 14% registered Republicans. The rest are unaffiliated.
“This thing is going to go down to the wire, but I think things are moving in Kevin’s direction," Gov. Mike DeWine said at a campaign event for Kevin Coughlin in October. "And I think he’s going to be our next congressman.”
Coughlin, who served in the Ohio House and Senate from 1997 to 2010, is running against incumbent Rep. Emilia Sykes this year.
Although fiscally conservative, he will not support a national abortion ban and is in favor of legal immigration, he said, departures from national Republican talking points.
His number one issue is the economy, he said.
“The cost-of-living crisis is brought on by a lot of different things," Coughlin said, "but primarily where Congress can help is get control of federal spending, start doing proper budgets, start erasing the annual deficit, stop printing money.”
GovTrack, a site that tracks legislator’s political ideology, puts Sykes left of center.
The economy is her top issue as well, and she plans to reintroduce her Lower Your Taxes Act if reelected, she said.
“It expands Earned Income Tax Credit," Sykes said. "It reinstates the Child Tax Credit, which reduced child poverty in half when it was fully implemented in six months.”
The economy also ties in to support for the Affordable Care Act, which she wants to strengthen, she said.
"Knowing that if we don't have the Affordable Care Act in our community, not only will our patients suffer, but our largest employers will struggle," Sykes said. "It will decimate our local economy and be very problematic for our healthcare outcomes all together."
The competitiveness of a district allows the candidates to focus more on these bread-and-butter issues, according to Cherie Strachan, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. That's the case with the 13th district in 2024, she said.
“Because of the way this district is drawn, it would certainly enhance the likelihood that a moderate would win," she said. "Because you have to tack to the center.”
2022 was the first election in decades that all of Summit County was drawn into one congressional district. Voters statewide once again have the opportunity in the 2024 election to consider the process of how all congressional and state districts are drawn. The statewide ballot question, Issue 1, would take the matter away from elected officials and give it to citizens. Coughlin opposes the issue, he said. Sykes is for it, she said.
“To win, I have to appeal to Democrats and Republicans and unaffiliated and Independent voters, which we were successful in doing in 2022," she said. "And I believe we’ll do the same thing in 2024.”
Both candidates have promised to work across the aisle if elected, each relying on their past record to display this sentiment. For example, Coughlin worked with Sykes’ parents, longtime Akron area politicians, while he was in the statehouse, he said.
“In finding common ground with people, as I did in the legislature with Vern and Barabara Sykes, when they were trying to get a bill since the 1980s to raise the amount of money we pay wrongfully convicted people who serve in prison," he said.
Sykes also touted her history of working with Republicans on the campaign trail, which she touched on at the Akron Press Club in October.
“I have introduced bills with every member of the Northeastern Ohio delegation, Dave Joyce, Max Miller and formerly Bill Johnson, who we introduced the RAIL [Reducing Accidents in Locomotives] Act together," she said.
Both candidates have also called for a return to civility in politics.
“That can be our politics again," Coughlin said, "and it all just starts with the kind of people that we elect and the kind of mindset they bring to it.”
Abortion may also play a big part in this race, after Ohioans voted to enshrine that right in the state constitution last year. Coughlin’s hands off approach to abortion isn’t enough, Sykes said.
“All of that will be null and void if the national abortion ban that [House] Speaker Mike Johnson and all of those who he has campaigning for all across this state including my opponent is elected," she said. "They’ve already told us what they want to do.”
Passage of the abortion amendment last year settled the issue in Ohio, Coughlin said.
"I'm certainly not going to go to D.C. and overturn the will of the voters," he said.
Abortion should be left up to the states now, as the Supreme Court intended in its Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022, he said.
"It's not enough protection for Americans," Sykes said, "and it's not enough protection for Ohioans."
Although this race has been flagged as one of the most competitive in the country, as of last week, The Cook Political Report now rates the race as leaning Democrat. This is partly due to Sykes’ win in 2022 as well as her fundraising, said Cherie Strachan with the Bliss Institute.
“She has outraised the Republican challenger substantially," she said, "and they used that to sort of tip the race a little bit in her favor.”
Sykes has raised nearly $5 million to Coughlin’s nearly $1.5 million as of Oct. 16, according to the Federal Election Commission. However, Coughlin’s election effort against Sykes has recently received a more than $1 million donation from billionaire Elon Musk’s America PAC, which has poured money into numerous Republican congressional races as well as former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, according to OpenSecrets.
Whether that money will make a difference will be seen on Election Day, as Republicans try to maintain their narrow control of the House and Democrats try to flip it. Analysts say the 13th congressional race could be the linchpin for either.
"If you're a fan of competitive districts, you love the 13th Congressional District," Coughlin said. "It doesn't get more competitive than this."
