COLUMBIANA, Ohio — The day Rep. Bill Johnson announced he was resigning from his congressional seat that skims along the Pennsylvania and West Virginia state lines to become president of Youngstown State University, Tammy Tsai came home from filming local residents’ stories about how the massive local train derailment had changed their lives, looked at her husband, Dr. Rick Tsai, and said flatly, “You need to run for Bill Johnson’s seat.”   

Without skipping a beat or asking her what she was even talking about, Rick Tsai recalls telling her, “You know what, I will,” adding he had no idea at the time Johnson wasn’t still seeking reelection for the seat he had held for 14 years.