Ohio’s 13th Congressional District could be key in deciding who will control the House of Representatives next year.
Looking to take on freshman congresswoman Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio) are U.S. Marine veteran and businessman Chris Banweg, former state Sen. Kevin Coughlin, and imaging technician Richard Morckel, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2016 and 2020.
Mr. Banweg has been endorsed by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), and Mr. Coughlin has been backed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)—a split of staunch Trump supporters.
In an interview with The Epoch Times on March 18, Mr. Banweg lamented that “the folks that got us into the mess we’re in will not be the type of folks that will get us out of it” and that “a new perspective” is needed. That is the reason he is running, he said.
Mr. Banweg’s top issues are border security, public safety, inflation, and jobs.
Regarding the border, “it impacts both our economy and our safety” in addition to “the national sovereignty we need to have.”
The first legislation he would introduce would be related to border security—something along the lines of the bill House Republicans passed last year that included policies such as reimplementing former President Donald Trump’s policy of requiring asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico pending the adjudication of their case.
On law and order, he said that “without faith in the judicial system of our nation, people can’t have faith in the nation.”
Overall, remarked Mr. Banweg, “We’re failing in a number of areas: the way that we protect our country as a whole given the border, the way that we protect, or encourage and grow our economy within our nation. And then, the way that we’re protecting our citizens on a day to day basis.
“And you can’t live the American dream if you don’t get to live in that safe environment. So for me, it’s about putting citizen legislators back in positions of leadership, not career politicians who just enjoy being there. It’s got to be about service.”
Mr. Banweg cited his fundraising numbers, and Mr. Coughlin’s 13 years in the Ohio legislature as a “career politician,” as what differentiates him from his competitors.
Between last July and February, he raised more than $280,000, according to the Federal Election Commission. As of Feb. 28, he has more than $116,000, though he loaned $13,200 of his own money.
While Mr. Banweg conceded that votes ultimately matter, “without any polling, you can look for an indication of support through how many people are financially supporting and how much you’re getting that financial support.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with The Epoch Times on March 18, Mr. Morckel laid a moral reason for his campaign: “the restoration and defense” of America.
This requires, he warned, fiscal responsibility and campaign finance reform, the latter of which he calls “trickle-down larceny”—a departure from the standard conservative and GOP belief in relaxed campaign contribution rules. He called for the status quo before the landmark 2010 Supreme Court cases Citizens United v. FEC, which opened the door for corporations and unions to donate to political campaigns.
He also called for securing the border.
The chunk of change Mr. Morckel has raised should be a positive, he said, as it exemplifies him not being a part of what he called “the circle power.” He noted that in 2016, he did not get any contributions and that he spent $700 of his own money as he got 99,377 votes—though that resulted in getting just 32 percent of the vote compared to then-incumbent Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) getting 208,610 votes, or 68 percent.
Finally, Mr. Morckel called for reversing President Joe Biden’s green subsidies but expressed support for “a comprehensive national energy policy of nuclear, gas, oil, coal, wind, and solar” even though he supports the free market.
Mr. Coughlin did not respond to a request for an interview.
