BREAKING: Marcy Kaptur Defeats Derek Merrin — AP Calls OH-09 for Longest-Serving Woman in Congress
The race is over. The Associated Press called Ohio’s 9th Congressional District for Rep. Marcy Kaptur early Wednesday morning (Nov. 4), after Lucas County finally reported its election results — the last county in all of Ohio to do so.
With more than 95% of the vote counted, Kaptur led Republican challenger Derek Merrin 52.7% to 47.3% (159,306 to 142,830 votes, per DDHQ at 2:53 a.m. EST), with Libertarian candidate Tom Pruss taking about 4%. In Lucas County, Kaptur won decisively: 97,958 votes to Merrin’s 54,022, with 274 of 280 precincts reporting.
The win gives Kaptur, 78, a 23rd term in the U.S. House — extending her streak as the longest-serving woman in congressional history. It was a rematch of 2024, when Kaptur edged Merrin by fewer than 2,400 votes. This year’s contest drew more than $23 million in campaign spending, with Merrin endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Kaptur declared victory just before 2 a.m. at the Lucas County Democratic election night watch party, appearing after midnight while the county’s votes were still unreported.
Why the wait? Lucas County was last in Ohio to report
As of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Lucas County was the only one of Ohio’s 88 counties that hadn’t reported a single set of election results — prompting Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz to ask publicly on Facebook whether the board was checking “the fax machine, smoke signals, or…”
Election officials said new state requirements were to blame: Ohio legislators eliminated the four-day grace period for receiving and processing mail-in ballots, and combined with Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s directive that all valid absentee ballots be returned by end of Election Day, the board had to count late-arriving absentee ballots first. The Lucas County Board of Elections later called the delay “unacceptable,” saying it “is not fair to the candidates or voters.”
Bomb threats shut a Toledo polling site; voting extended to 9:15 PM after K-9 sweep
Sources: Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Akron Beacon Journal, Decision Desk HQ, 13abc (WTVG)
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons.
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