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Republicans start piling into open House race in conservative southwestern Ohio [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-11-22  

State Sen. Niraj Antani on Tuesday became the first notable Republican to announce he is running to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Brad Wenstrup in this dark red district. Antani is a staunch conservative who says he favors a federal abortion ban, and he would be the state's first Indian American member of Congress if elected.

However, Antani's Senate district is located in the Dayton suburbs, and none of it overlaps with the 2nd District, which is based in the eastern Cincinnati suburbs and rural southern Ohio. Antani won a heavily gerrymandered Senate seat back in 2020 that had voted 55-43 for Donald Trump, but the new Senate map that Republicans adopted in September turned his 6th District into one that would have backed Joe Biden by 55-43, which may be why Antani is running elsewhere this cycle.

Plenty of other Republicans are likely to take a look at running for this open seat. Clermont County GOP chair Charles Tassell told radio host Brian Thomas he was running on Monday but clarified to Hotline that he's forming a committee to begin raising money and would decide "as soon as possible" whether to run. Former state Rep. Danny Bubp also said he's "strongly considering."

Meanwhile, state Sen. Shane Wilkin didn't rule out a campaign, telling cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer, "I'll let you know when I know." Union Township Trustee Michael Logue also didn't foreclose a potential campaign, saying he'll "see how the next few days and weeks develop." However, state Reps. Jay Edwards and Brian Stewart both said they wouldn't run.

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