CINCINNATI — One of the closely watched Congressional races in the state is in southwest Ohio in District One.
Incumbent Greg Landsman flipped the seat two years ago and hopes to stay in office for another two years. He shares who he is beyond a politician and what he hopes to accomplish if he’s re-elected.
Folding laundry on a weekday afternoon, Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman is a family man first.
“I try to rush home as quickly as I can after votes and, and just make sure that, you know, I'm showing up when they need me most," Landsman said.
His daughter Maddie is a freshman in high school, who Landsman enjoys going to concerts with. And his son, Elijah is a seventh grader who goes to FC Cincinnati games with his dad.
Beyond his family, he says his community is deeply important to him.
“Being with my family is at the top of the list," Landsman said. "Being with my community is two.”
Landsman is from the Cincinnati area and loves everything it has to offer.
And when it comes to politics, Landsman wants voters to see him as normal.
“If I have a superpower, it is that I'm am very normal and, and I'm just, I'm very much part of my own life," Landsman said. "My life, with my wife and my kids and my community and all of that.”
He says his background of being a teacher has helped him learn how to build relationships with people on both sides of the aisle.
“In DC, I bounce around the floor, in talking to Democrats and Republicans all day and building those relationships," Landsman said. "And it does pay off because when somebody has a bill and they want a Democratic, co-sponsor, if they're a Republican, they'll call me because they're like, 'oh, I like Greg. Greg's normal. And, there are no surprises with Greg, and he'll help me get it done.'”
In terms of big issues, he says he wants to work to regain reproductive freedom for women, he’s in favor of Issue 1 and says the U.S needs to stand up to the conflict in the Middle East as well as to Putin.
“You need strong leadership from the United States that can pull together a global coalition to stand up to Iran and to Putin and make sure that they are doing no more harm, and that peace and prosperity and stability persists," Landsman said.
But Landsman has landed himself in some hot water during his political career, in 2018 as part of a group text of Cincinnati city council members that violated the state’s open meeting laws. And most recently, stock trades the congressman made over the last year and a half were not disclosed until August, when they should have been revealed within 45 days.
He says he wasn’t aware of the stock trades made by a financial advisor on his behalf. In both instances, Landsman has apologized for his actions.
“They appreciated the fact that it was a mistake and that I took full responsibility because that's how I was raised," Landsman said of voters reactions. "That's how most of them were raised. And they see that. And then, the trades, having to disclose them immediately once I found out, you know, there had been trades, I think voters know.”
While Landsman is fighting to keep his congressional seat, he hopes voters see who he is as a husband, dad and community member as he hopes to accomplish more in his second term.
“Trying to change national politics as hard as it sounds, is really important to me," he said. "Getting people to back away or be done with the extremes, and the chaos and the cruelty of of parts of our politics and, and and usher in a new era of normal, pragmatic, reliable leaders who are just working in a bipartisan way and getting things done.”