Trump-backed Derek Mer­rin wins Ohio GOP race to chal­lenge Mar­cy Kap­tur

A Trump-backed Repub­li­can will chal­lenge the longest-serv­ing woman in Con­gress after a roller­coast­er con­test that cen­tered on alle­giance to the for­mer pres­i­dent.
Derek Mer­rin, an Ohio state law­mak­er who earned for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump’s endorse­ment on the eve of the elec­tion, won the pri­ma­ry for Ohio’s 9th Con­gres­sion­al Dis­trict on Tues­day. He will now com­pete against Rep. Mar­cy Kap­tur (R‑OH), who has rep­re­sent­ed the Tole­do area since 1983.
Anoth­er Repub­li­can, Craig Rei­del, had been seen as the party’s best chance at defeat­ing Kap­tur, whose dis­trict was recon­fig­ured to favor Repub­li­cans, yet he lost the sup­port of mem­bers of House lead­er­ship after a leaked tape in which he called the for­mer pres­i­dent “arro­gant.” Speak­er Mike John­son (R‑LA) recruit­ed Mer­rin to make a last-minute bi …