COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democrat Shontel Brown won the Cleveland-area U.S. House seat formerly held by Housing Secretary Marcia Fudge in Tuesday’s special election.
Brown, 46, a Cuyahoga County Council member who also chairs the county Democratic Party, defeated Republican Laverne Gore, a business owner and activist, in the 11th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic area that stretches from Cleveland to Akron.
She fills the remainder of Fudge’s term, which runs until January 2023, facing reelection again next year under a congressional map that’s being redrawn to hold onto the seat.
A second special election took place Tuesday in Ohio, this one for the open seat in the 15th Congressional District. Republican Mike Carey, a longtime coal lobbyist, and Democrat Allison Russo, a two-term state representative and public policy consultant, competed to succeed Republican Rep. Steve Stivers, who resigned in April to become CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce after a decade in Congress.
The winner will fill the remainder of Stivers’ term and, like Brown, will face reelection in 2022.
More than 377,000 Ohioans had voted early as of Monday afternoon, either by absentee ballot or at early in-person voting locations, according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose. He said that was nearly 18 percent more early ballots than had been cast at the same point in 2019.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Carey, calling him a “courageous fighter” and visiting the state to campaign for him. President Joe Biden endorsed Russo, who raised more money in the district than any Democrat in history.
Brown’s election in the 11th Congressional District marks a win for establishment Democrats, who sought to defend the district against a takeover by progressives.