AKRON — Republican congressional candidate Carey Coleman told an Akron Press Club audience on Tuesday, Oct. 13, that he is running his own race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District and answers to the district’s voters, not to any party figure or outside handler.
Coleman, a longtime Northeast Ohio radio host and former television meteorologist, is challenging Democratic Rep. Emilia Sykes with early voting already underway and Election Day three weeks away. He said he entered the race because he wants to serve the district and fix problems he sees at home.
The redrawn 13th District covers all of Summit County, part of northwestern Stark County and the Kent area of western Portage County, and leans Democratic by a few points. Coleman listed downtown Akron’s revival — with public safety and good jobs — among his priorities, and argued the district has been represented by Democrats for nearly five decades.
On policy, Coleman backed ending Ohio’s E-Check vehicle emissions requirements in Northeast Ohio, said federal guardrails on artificial intelligence will likely be necessary, and said data centers should pay their fair share or generate their own power so household utility rates do not rise. He also said he wants the war with Iran ended.
The Press Club hosts Sykes at a similar luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the same East Market Street venue.