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EXCLUSIVE: From Toledo to Flint, Republicans are targeting two Democratic-held congressional seats in the industrial Midwest that President Donald Trump won last year.
With a razor-thin 219-212 majority in the U.S. House, Republicans are eyeing crossover districts – the 13 congressional districts where Trump won at the top of the ticket, but Democrats held on down-ballot.
Top of mind for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections is Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, held by the longest-serving woman in Congress, Rep. Marcy Kaptur, and Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, represented by freshman Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet.
Freshman GOP Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia, Trump’s former political director who is now leading candidate recruitment for House Republicans as deputy chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), visited those crossover districts this week.
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In a phone interview with Fox News Digital from Toledo, Ohio, while “looking out on the Maumee River,” Jack said Kaptur and McDonald Rivet are out of step with the constituents they represent.
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“Kaptur has represented Toledo for 42 years, which is longer than some of our candidates have been alive,” Jack said.
Jack described how Kaptur has seen a “significant decline in her vote percentages.” In 2016, Kaptur won with 68% of the vote. Last year, in 2024, the Democratic congresswoman received just 48% of the vote.
“I believe that’s because, over the past seven, eight years, voters have become familiar with her posture toward President Trump,” Jack said. “President Trump carried this district with 53%, a clear majority, and yet she still voted twice to subvert the will of her voters, by voting to twice impeach President Trump and remove him from office against the will her own constituents.”
While Kaptur remains in line with the Democratic Party on key issues, like rejecting Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” his marquee legislation – which includes tax cuts, green energy reform and border security – Ohio has shifted red in recent election cycles.
“This used to be the perennial bellwether swing state,” Jack said. “As we have seen from 2016 through 2024, it has increasingly aligned with President Trump and voted overwhelmingly to send President Trump to the White House three separate times. That accurately reflects the will of the people of this incredible state.”
Candidates for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District include former GOP nominee and four-term state Rep. Derek Merrin, Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams, Air National Guard Lt. Col. Alea Nadeem, and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Wayne Kinsel.
State Senate President Sen. Rob McColley is also considered a potential candidate. Jack met with local party officials, the four declared candidates and the potential candidate in the race while visiting the Buckeye State.
Jack said Republicans are excited and inspired by these candidates, telling Fox News Digital, “When you look at the districts that are seeking a change in elected office, Ohio’s 9th is one of the first districts that comes to mind.”
In McDonald Rivet’s crossover district, Jack also met with U.S. Navy veteran Amir Hassan, who is the only declared Republican candidate.
“As voters continue to learn about the Rep. McDonald Rivet’s voting record, I suspect that they’re going to raise questions about why she’s voting against the president, who the district overwhelmingly elected,” Jack said.
Jack said when he hosted Vice President JD Vance in his hometown of Peachtree City, Georgia, more than a thousand voters showed up in 90-degree heat, drawing a sharp contrast to the fewer than 50 people who were protesting in the swing state.
And as Democrats campaign against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” and Medicaid cuts take center stage for Democrats ahead of the midterms, Jack told Fox News Digital, “It’s incumbent upon us to continue to promote, not just the victories of the bill, but the details within it, because it is an encapsulation of everything on which Trump campaigned.”
When reached for comment, McDonald Rivet’s campaign spokesperson, Tom Grandon, told Fox News Digital that she is “working every day to make life more affordable for working families.”
“She has proven countless times throughout her career that she will work with anyone, regardless of party, to accomplish that, and she has bipartisan bills that will lower key costs, like medicine, taxes, and eggs. However, she will also fight tirelessly against any agenda that prioritizes billionaires over lower costs for working people,” the campaign added.
Kaptur and the Democratic National Congressional Committee (DCCC) did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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