2021 Ohio's 15th congressional district special election

For the other congressional special election held concurrently, see 2021 Ohio's 11th congressional district special election.

For broader coverage of this topic, see Ohio's 15th congressional district.

On May 16, 2021, Representative Steve Stivers resigned from his seat in the United States House of Representatives to become president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.^[2] Following Stivers' official communication of his intent to resign, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced that the special election to fill the remainder of his term would be held on November 2, 2021, with the primary election held on August 3, concurrent with the special election in Ohio's 11th congressional district.^[3][4] In the general election on November 2, Republican nominee Mike Carey defeated Democratic nominee Allison Russo by 26,913 votes.

Ohio's 15th congressional district special election

← 2020 November 2, 2021 2022 →
Ohio's 15th congressional district
Turnout	32.25%[1]
Nominee Mike Carey Allison Russo Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 94,501 67,588 Percentage 58.3% 41.7%
Results by county Results by precinct Carey:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   >90% Russo:   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   >90% Tie:    No votes:
U.S. Representative before election Steve Stivers Republican Elected U.S. Representative Mike Carey Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Carey, vice president of government affairs at American Consolidated Natural Resources^[5]

Eliminated in primary

• John Adams, owner of Green Valley Chemicals^[5]
• Eric M. Clark, LPN at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base^[5]
• Thad Cooperrider, former Perry County commissioner^[5]
• Ruth Edmonds, advisory board member at Ohio's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives^[6][7]
• Ron Hood, former state representative^[5]
• Thomas Hwang, owner of the Virtues Golf Club^[5]
• Stephanie Kunze, state senator^[8]
• Jeff LaRe, state representative^[8]
• Bob Peterson, state senator^[9]
• Omar Tarazi, attorney and Hilliard city councilmember^[10][11]

Withdrawn

• Brian Stewart, state representative^[12]

Declined

• Jeff Fix, Fairfield County commissioner^[5]

Endorsements

Mike Carey

Executive branch officials

• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[13]

U.S. representatives

• Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference (2021–present) and U.S. representative from NY-21 (2015–present)^[14]

Individuals

• Corey Lewandowski, senior advisor to former President Donald Trump^[5]

Stephanie Kunze

Organizations

• Franklin County, Ohio Republican Party
• Maggie's List^[15]

Jeff LaRe

U.S. representatives

• Steve Stivers, former U.S. representative from OH-15 (2011–2021)^[16]

State representatives

• Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison), Assistant Majority Whip
• Adam Bird (R-New Richmond)
• Sara Carruthers (R- Hamilton)
• Jon Cross (R-Kenton)
• Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg)
• Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.)
• Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville)
• Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta)
• Gail Pavliga (R-Portage County)
• Phil Plummer (R-Dayton)
• Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati), Majority Floor Leader
• Reggie Stoltzfus (R-Paris Twp.)
• D. J. Swearingen (R-Huron)
• Bob Young (R-Green)
• Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.)

Organizations

• Left or Right Politics

Bob Peterson

U.S. representatives

• Steve Austria, former U.S. representative from OH-07 (2009–2013)^[17]
• Dave Hobson, former U.S. representative from OH-07 (1991–2009)^[17]

State legislators

• Bob Hackett, Ohio state senator
• Jay Hottinger, president pro tempore of the Ohio Senate (2021–present) from District 31 (1998–2006; 2015–present)^[17]
• Mark Johnson, Ohio state representative from District 92 (2021–present)^[17]
• Tim Schaffer, Ohio state senator from District 20 (2019–present)^[17]

County commissioners

• Harold "Champ" Henson, III, Pickaway County, Ohio
• Gary Scherer, Pickaway County, Ohio, commissioner and former Ohio state representative from District 92 (2012–2020)^[17]

Ron Hood

U.S. senators

• Rand Paul, U.S. senator from Kentucky (2011–present)^[18]

Ruth Edmonds

Individuals

• James Dobson, evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family^[19]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	John Adams	Mike Carey	Eric Clark	Thad Cooperrider	Ruth Edmonds	Ron Hood	Thomas Hwang	Stephanie Kunze	Jeff LaRe	Bob Peterson	Omar Tarazi	Undecided
Fabrizio Lee & Associates (R)[20][A]	June 23–24, 2021	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	<1%	20%	0%	2%	<1%	7%	3%	6%	9%	7%	1%	44%

Results

Results by county

  Carey

•   30–40%
•   40–50%
•   50–60%

  Peterson

•   50–60%

Republican primary results^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Carey	18,805	36.3
	Republican	Jeff LaRe	6,776	13.1
	Republican	Ron Hood	6,676	12.9
	Republican	Bob Peterson	6,407	12.4
	Republican	Ruth Edmonds	5,090	9.8
	Republican	Thomas Hwang	2,499	4.8
	Republican	Stephanie Kunze	2,363	4.6
	Republican	Thad Cooperrider	1,076	2.1
	Republican	Omar Tarazi	907	1.7
	Republican	John Adams	173	0.3
	Republican	Eric M. Clark	83	0.2
Total votes			51,855	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Allison Russo, state representative^[22][23]

Eliminated in primary

• Greg Betts^[5]

Declined

• Tina Maharath, state senator^[22][24]
• Joel Newby, attorney and nominee for Ohio's 15th congressional district in 2020^[25]
• Steve Patterson, mayor of Athens (endorsed Russo)^[26][27]
• Michael Stinziano, Franklin County auditor^[5]

Endorsements

Allison Russo

U.S. senators

• Sherrod Brown, U.S. senator from Ohio (2007–present)^[28]

Local officials

• Steve Patterson, mayor of Athens^[27]

Organizations

• 314 Action^[29]
• AFL–CIO^[30]
• United Auto Workers^[30]

Results

Results by county

Russo

•   Russo—70–80%
•   Russo—80–90%

Democratic primary results^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Allison Russo	13,704	84.2
	Democratic	Greg Betts	2,576	15.8
Total votes			16,280	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[31]	Likely R	August 4, 2021
Inside Elections[32]	Solid R	October 27, 2021
Sabato's Crystal Ball[33]	Likely R	August 4, 2021

Endorsements

Mike Carey (R)

Executive branch officials

• Mike Pence, 48th vice president of the United States (2017–2021)^[34]
• Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)^[13]

U.S. representatives

• Elise Stefanik, chair of the House Republican Conference (2021–present) and U.S. representative from NY-21 (2015–present)^[35]

Individuals

• Corey Lewandowski, senior advisor to former President Donald Trump^[5]

Allison Russo (D)

Executive branch officials

• Joe Biden, 46th president of the United States (2021–present)^[36]

U.S. senators

• Sherrod Brown, U.S. senator from Ohio (2007–present)^[37]

Local officials

• Steve Patterson, mayor of Athens^[27]

Organizations

• 314 Action^[29]
• AFL–CIO^[30]
• EMILY's List^[38]
• League of Conservation Voters^[39]
• United Auto Workers^[30]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[a]	Margin of error	Mike Carey (R)	Allison Russo (D)	Undecided
Emerson College[40]	October 14–16, 2021	445 (LV)	± 4.6%	50%	39%	11%

Notes

1. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear

Results

2021 Ohio's 15th congressional district special election^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Mike Carey	94,501	58.30%	–5.11
	Democratic	Allison Russo	67,588	41.70%	+5.13
Total votes			162,089	100.0%
Turnout			[a]165,026	32.25%
Registered electors			511,773
	Republican hold

By county

County[1] Mike Carey Republican Allison Russo Democratic Margin Total votes # % # % # % Athens (part) 3,611 37.0 6,160 63.0 2,549 26.0 9,771 Clinton 5,972 78.5 1,632 21.5 4,340 57.0 7,604 Fairfield 21,011 65.4 11,117 34.6 9,894 30.8 32,128 Fayette (part) 918 84.5 168 15.5 750 69.0 1,086 Franklin (part) 29,842 45.2 36,230 54.8 6,388 9.6 66,072 Hocking 3,756 68.8 1,701 31.2 2,055 37.6 5,457 Madison 6,535 72.7 2,450 27.3 4,085 45.4 8,985 Morgan 2,533 74.4 873 25.6 1,660 48.8 3,406 Perry 5,487 72.5 2,054 27.2 3,433 45.3 7,541 Pickaway 8,321 73.8 2,956 26.2 5,365 47.6 11,277 Ross (part) 4,633 73.9 1,638 26.1 2,995 47.8 6,271 Vinton 1,882 75.6 609 24.4 1,273 51.2 2,491 Total 94,501 58.3 67,588 41.7 26,913 16.6 162,089 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Franklin (largest municipality: Columbus)

Notes

1. Including invalid votes or ballots not counted for either candidate

Partisan clients

1. This poll was sponsored by Mike Carey's campaign.