Carey, Brown win US House seats in Ohio

COLUMBUS (AP) — Republican Mike Carey, a Trump-backed coal lobbyist, bested a two-term state lawmaker to win an open U.S. House seat in central Ohio on Tuesday, while Democrat Shontel Brown coasted to victory in a second up-for-grabs congressional district in the Cleveland area.

The election results will leave Democrats with a 221-213 advantage over Republicans in Congress, with Brown and Carey each retaining a seat for their respective party. A third open congressional seat in Florida, where primaries were being held Tuesday, also is very likely to remain status quo and in Democratic hands.

Carey, 50, defeated Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo, a public health policy consultant, in the 15th Congressional District, after the most competitive race there in years. The previous officeholder, Republican Steve Stivers, resigned in April to become CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce after a decade in Congress.

Carey told celebrants at a victory party Tuesday: “We have too many career politicians in Washington. That's the last thing that I will ever be.”

Brown, 46, a Cuyahoga County Council member who also chairs the county Democratic Party, won the Cleveland-area House seat formerly held by Marcia Fudge, who stepped down to become housing and urban development secretary in the Biden administration.

Brown defeated Republican Laverne Gore, a business owner and activist, in the heavily Democratic district that stretches from Cleveland to Akron. She said she is ready to get to work.

“I am committed to going to Washington as a unifier, and will work with President Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress to lead a swift health and economic recovery from the pandemic for Ohioans,” Brown said in a statement.

Both winners will fill the remainder of their predecessors' terms, which run until January 2023. They must face reelection again next year under a congressional map that's being redrawn to hold onto the seat.