Special primary set in Ohio U.S. House race
Published 1:17 pm Monday, September 12, 2016
HAMILTON (AP) — A former congressional staffer is set to be formally nominated as the Democratic challenger against recently elected Republican U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson in former House Speaker John Boehner’s district.
Steve Fought still has to go through a special primary election on Tuesday. He has no opposition as he seeks to replace Corey Foister as the Democratic nominee.
Foister abruptly withdrew from the race. And state laws that some legislators and elections officials think should be changed mandated the special primary, even though there’s only one candidate.
Fought will clinch the nomination when the first certified voter casts his or her ballot for the Mercer County native.
Davidson won a June 7 special election to complete Boehner’s term with 77 percent of the vote and will seek a full term in November in the GOP-dominated district. Boehner resigned last year after holding the seat for nearly 25 years.
Davidson said he looks forward to the November election and engaging more people in the political process. He plans to meet the constituents of Butler, Clark, Mercer, Miami and other counties.
“Elections are important and I’ll be on the ballot again and will be continuing to ask for their votes again,” Davidson told the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News.
Fought, a former communications director and legislative director for U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Toledo Democrat, said he wants to use his education and his 15 years of experience working as a congressional aide to be the “best representative the 8th District’s ever seen.”
The special election is estimated to cost the district’s counties around $500,000.