Conroy, Coleman Win Key Ohio GOP Congressional Primaries

Former CIA officer Eric Conroy, and former radio talk show host and television meteorologist Carey Coleman, won their respective Ohio Congressional Republican primaries and will continue their bids to unseat incumbent Democrats in the Nov. 3 general election.

Ohio Congressional Districts 1 and 13 faced competitive primaries on May 5.

The 2026 election features newly drawn House district maps after a last-minute agreement between Democrats and Republicans, who have a supermajority in the state legislature.

For the third straight election cycle, Ohio will have 15 seats in Congress. That is the state’s smallest delegation since before the Civil War.

Republicans currently hold 10 of those seats.

In the First Congressional District—which covers part of southwest Ohio, including left-leaning Cincinnati—Conroy will face incumbent Democrat Greg Landsman, who won his primary against challenger Damon Lynch.

The new maps made Landsman’s district more competitive, converting it from an area President Donald Trump lost by 6 points to one he won by almost 3 points.

The Cook Political Report calls the district’s race a toss-up.

The district’s redrawn, but it by no means a slam dunk. We need motivated voters to get out there in the general election.

“I think this district is looking for a change. Residents here are tired of a radical left congressman who is promoting leftist ideas from California. It’s time to get back to the basics and put a common sense conservative in office here. Our country can’t afford Democrats having House majority,” Conroy said during his campaign’s watch party in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine district.

Public safety will be a key issue in the general election as Cincinnati has frequently made local and national news for crime.

“I’m a proud downtown resident myself. I live just a few boxes from here,” Conroy said.

“I see the problems every day, whether I’m walking to go get a coffee or going to my gym. I see the crime on the streets, and we need to fully fund our police department. Greg Landsman was a part of the defund the police crowd, and he also doesn’t want to fund DHS. That is just not common sense,” Conroy added.

The Republican primary originally included four candidates—Conroy, former businesswoman Holly Adams, nonprofit CEO Rosemary Oglesby-Henry, and dentist Steven Erbeck.

Conroy, a former Air Force intelligence officer and former CIA officer, received Trump’s endorsement on April 14. Erbeck dropped out and backed Conroy, leaving Adams and Oglesby-Henry as the remaining challengers.

Trump’s backing helps “unify the party both in the primary and also the general, and that’s going to be critical for voter turnout,” Conroy told The Epoch Times.

“This is going to be a very tight election in the general and we need max Republican participation to be successful,” Conroy said.

In the Democratic primary, Landsman and challenger Damon Lynch had sharp disagreements over foreign policy.

A former Cincinnati City Council member, Landsman is seeking a third term in Congress. Lynch is his first primary opponent since taking office.

Landsman won reelection in 2024 when he defeated Republican Orlando Sonza with 56 percent of the vote.

“My focus has always been on the things that we all have in common. You know, people want us focused on the economy and their financial well-being and public safety and so those things don’t change,” Landsman said.

Lynch, an entrepreneur and the father of two young children, has criticized Landsman’s initial support for the U.S. attack on Iran and the incumbent’s continued support of Israel.

Landsman disagrees with Lynch. The incumbent has described himself on the campaign trail as one of the most transparent and engaged Congressional members.

Landsman supported the initial attack on Iran, calling it necessary to eliminate the country’s missile and nuclear capabilities. Since then, he has called for an end to the war and advocates for a congressional war powers resolution that would limit the president’s ability to conduct more military action in Iran.

“They should have gotten this done in 30 days. The military leaders did get it done,” Landsman said.

“Our military got it done. Trump just cannot get out of this and stop when in fact the military objectives were complete weeks ago,” he added.

Even with the new maps, Ohio’s 13th Congressional District remains heavily partisan. Rep. Emilia Sykes, a Democrat, is seeking a third term in office. She is unopposed in the primary.

In 2024, Sykes narrowly defeated Republican Kevin Coughlin 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent.

The new map, approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, strengthened Sykes’s position according to the Cook Political Report, which rated the race as leaning in Sykes’ favor.

Five Republican candidates battled for their party’s nomination on May 5.

Coleman, a former radio host and television meteorologist in northeast Ohio, emerged as the victor. He gained the Summit County Republican endorsement in March.

On his website, Coleman wrote that he is running for the seat because “Congress must return to fiscal discipline, energy independence, strong national security, and policies that reward work, entrepreneurship, and family stability.”

Coleman supports secure borders, defending constitutional freedoms, standing with law enforcement, and ensuring parents, not bureaucrats, have a strong voice in their children’s education, according to his website.