Election 2026: Carey to defend seat in Congress against Ronan in May – Springfield News-Sun

Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, speaks during a news conference on reintroducing the Credit for Caring Act, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
FILE — The Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
FILE — The Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey of Columbus will face off against Samuel Ronan — who has been accused of secretly being a Democrat — in the May GOP primary.
They are running for Ohio’s 15th District, which after redistricting last year now includes a portion of southern Clark County as well as much of Miami County. It also includes parts of eastern and southern Franklin County and portions of Fayette, Madison and Shelby counties.
Carey has held the seat since 2021.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate make $174,000 a year.
Ronan in 2017 was a candidate for chair of the U.S. Democratic National Committee. In 2018, he ran in the Republican primary against Steve Chabot and received less than 17% of the vote.
The Franklin County GOP attempted to remove Ronan from the ballot this year, arguing that he is secretly a Democrat. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose broke a tie vote in the Franklin County Board of Elections to remove Ronan from the ballot. But Ronan’s place on the ballot was affirmed by a U.S. District judge.
Neither Carey nor Ronan responded to interview requests from the Springfield News-Sun.
Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, speaks during a news conference on reintroducing the Credit for Caring Act, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Carey, who served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1989 to 1999, identifies protection of social security, border security, support for veterans, cutting wasteful spending, civility in congress and support for his communities through tax dollars, as his priorities on his campaign website.
Carey said his highest priority “is delivering for his constituents and creating a stronger future for the communities he represents.”
“Since becoming your congressman, Mike Carey has helped constituents navigate federal agencies and brought tax dollars back to our communities,” the website says.
Carey’s campaign highlights his work in obtaining tax dollars for local projects, including Franklin County road and bridge replacements and improvements, water infrastructure improvements to Sidney sand Bloomingburg, a new law enforcement facility in London and new facilities at Ohio State University.
Carey also supported massive Department of Government Efficiency cuts to several programs that department deemed “wasteful” and “anti-American.” This included some local funding losses, like to the Clark County Combined Health District and Second Harvest Food Bank.
Carey’s campaign touts his work with congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump to write and pass the Working Families Tax Cuts, which he said codified no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, deductions for seniors on Social Security and made the 2017 tax cuts permanent.
Carey also pointed to his votes to pass the Laken Riley Act and the HALT Fentanyl Act, as well as supporting Trump’s border efforts with funding.
Ronan is running on a platform of reforms to immigration and the border, as well as cost of living reform, universal health care and job training.
Ronan grew up in Lancaster and lives in Grove City, according to Ballotpedia’s candidate survey. He served in the Air Force from 2009 to 2021 and has an associate’s degree in applied science from the University of Maryland, he said.
Ronan said he has “found his homes as a Republican” who now embodies the conservatism of President Dwight D. Eisenhower “and classical conservative ideology.”
He identified the rising cost of living and “prohibitive cost of housing,” abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol to reallocate funding to public services, and ensure all named in the Epstein files face justice, as his three key campaign messages.
In a recent post to his campaign website, Ronan called himself “the sole Republican anti-war candidate” in the 15th District regarding the war in Iran.
While he outlined the need for immigration reform in another post, he said he is opposed to closing the border and instead believes in a “streamlined” process. He pointed to the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of democracy and said, “isolationism is counter to our nation’s history.”
Ronan also states support for cutting federal funding to schools with curriculum “that is inappropriate to our children” but said he does not believe schools “push Critical Race Theory, or Radical Gender Ideology.”
The Democratic and Republican primaries will be held May. 5. Early in-person and absentee voting starts Tuesday. Absentee ballots must now be received by 7:30 p.m. Election Day rather than previously required to be postmarked by that date.
The general election is Nov. 3.
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