WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Open after nearly 25 years of John Boehner, a House district in western Ohio has drawn a packed field with many candidates running as maverick outsiders, pledging to shake up the Washington scene in which the former speaker was a major player.
Republican voters will choose from 15 candidates running in unusual dual March 15 primary races in a crowded campaign, with people of varied backgrounds taking hard lines on national security, immigration and the Washington establishment.
Open seats have been rare in recent years in Ohio, and aspirants saw opportunity when Boehner decided to resign last year from the House speakership and the seat he first won in 1990 after beating a scandal-tainted incumbent in the Republican primary.
The district spans six counties containing northern Cincinnati suburbs, working-class cities and long rural stretches, and is reliably Republican. But the large field and the double vote leave the outcome “so unpredictable,” said Miami University political scientist John Forren.
