2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election

2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election
Ohio's 6th congressional district
	County results; Rulli: 50–60% 60–70%; Kripchak: 50–60%
U.S. Representative before election; Bill Johnson; Republican	Elected U.S. Representative ; Michael Rulli; Republican

The 2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election was held on June 11, 2024, to fill the vacant seat in Ohio's 6th congressional district for the remainder of the 118th United States Congress. The seat became vacant on January 21, 2024, after Bill Johnson resigned to become president of Youngstown State University. The 6th district, largely rural in character with several smaller industrial cities, is considered a safe Republican seat.^[1]

Republican Michael Rulli defeated Democratic candidate Michael Kripchak with 54.62% of the vote. Although Rulli won, the margin was considerably narrower than expected.^[2]^[3] Both Rulli and Kripchak faced off again in the November election, with Rulli improving his margin of victory.^[4]

Rulli was sworn in on June 25.^[3]

Background

Republican Bill Johnson was re-elected to congress in 2022 from Ohio's 6th district. On November 21, 2023, Johnson announced he would resign to accept a position as president of Youngstown State University in 2024.^[5] On January 2, he announced he would resign earlier than expected on January 21 of that same year. On January 4, Governor Mike DeWine announced a primary election scheduled for March 19, and a general election on June 11.^[6]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Michael Rulli, state senator (2019–present)^[7]

Eliminated in primary

Reggie Stoltzfus, state representative (2019–present)^[7]
Rick Tsai, chiropractor^[7]

Endorsements

Michael Rulli

Organizations

U.S. Chamber of Commerce^[8]

Reggie Stoltzfus

Organizations

FRC Action^[9]

Results

Republican primary for the 2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Rulli	43,155	49.08%
	Republican	Reggie Stoltzfus	35,684	40.58%
	Republican	Rick Tsai	9,094	10.34%
Total votes			87,933	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Michael Kripchak, businessman^[7]

Eliminated in primary

Rylan Finzer, marijuana business owner^[7]

Results

Democratic primary for the 2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Kripchak	19,931	65.00%
	Democratic	Rylan Finzer	10,731	35.00%
Total votes			30,662	100.00%

General election

Results

2024 Ohio's 6th congressional district special election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Rulli	32,747	54.64%	−13.08
	Democratic	Michael Kripchak	27,173	45.34%	+13.06
	Independent	Christopher Lafont (write-in)	12	0.02%	N/A
Total votes			59,932	100.00%

By county

County	Michael Rulli Republican		Michael Kripchak Democratic		Christopher Lafont (Write-in)		Margin		Total votes
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total votes
Belmont	2,591	58.33	1,849	41.63	2	0.05	742	16.70	4,442
Carroll	1,480	67.27	718	32.64	2	0.09	762	34.64	2,200
Columbiana	5,529	65.45	2,918	34.54	1	0.01	2,611	30.91	8,448
Harrison	716	64.33	397	35.67	0	0.00	319	28.66	1,113
Jefferson	2,837	57.19	2,123	42.79	1	0.02	714	14.39	4,961
Mahoning	11,683	49.93	11,718	50.07	0	0.00	-35	-0.06	23,401
Monroe	561	59.68	378	40.21	1	0.11	183	19.47	940
Noble	432	63.72	246	36.28	0	0.00	186	27.43	678
Stark	3,389	51.91	3,137	48.05	2	0.03	252	3.86	6,528
Tuscarawas	1,305	43.51	1,691	56.39	3	0.10	-386	-12.87	2,999
Washington	2,224	52.68	1,998	47.32	0	0.00	226	5.35	4,222
Total	32,747	54.64	27,173	45.34	12	0.02	5,574	9.30	59,932