Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has emerged triumphant from another reelection campaign in Ohio‘s 9th Congressional District, this time against Republican Derek Merrin.
The Associated Press called the race for Kaptur at 2:53 a.m. on Wednesday. Kaptur garnered 52.7% of the vote against Merrin’s 47.3%, with 97% of the vote counted.
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The contest to represent the northwestern Ohio district anchored by Toledo was considered by the Cook Political Report to be a toss-up before the election prognosticator changed its rating to Leans Democrat a week before Election Day.
Kaptur has represented Ohio’s 9th District since 1982 but only won her 22nd term in Congress in 2024 against Merrin, a former state lawmaker, 48.29% to his 47.6%, the first time she did not earn a majority of the vote.
Their 2026 race was a rematch of that contest, with generational-change arguments mounted against Kaptur, 80, in response to criticism of Trump-endorsed Merrin, 40, for national Republican policies, particularly regarding the economy.
“Her challenger [had] been using her experience against her and using his youth as an advantage,” Kenyon College political science assistant professor Zac McGee told the Washington Examiner.
“Republicans redistricted to give it even more of a Republican edge,” Ohio State University political science professor emeritus Paul Beck also told the Washington Examiner before Tuesday. “The headwinds against the Republicans may be so strong that that won’t matter.”
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Republicans have been targeting Kaptur consistently since 2022, when her previously comfortably Democratic district was redrawn to favor the GOP. State-mandated redistricting in 2025 made the already Republican-leaning seat even more red.
Kaptur is the longest-serving female member of Congress in history.