Ohio’s 9th Congressional District is one to keep your eye on this election season.

Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur is in the incumbent and has been in office since 1983. Her opponent is Republican State Rep. Derek Merrin. 

Kaptur said she’s working toward the future.

“We need to move America forward, and I think our campaign is about more progress in a very difficult situation. As I’ve said many times, where we reside is not a capital city like Columbus. It is not a university center like Columbus. It is not a financial center like New York or San Francisco," Kaptur said. "We have to make it in a private market in the Great Lakes Region, and we are fighting back industrially and agriculturally in order to do that."

Kaptur said she wants to invest in northwest Ohio’s businesses and the environment.

“I hope that we can continue the progress we’ve made in reshoring jobs from abroad and investing in enterprise here across our very very important Great Lakes region…We have to invest to make sure that the communities, the millions of people that live along the Great Lakes, will have a decent way of life and a sustainable way of life,” Kaptur said.

In a statement, Merrin said,

“I will fight to secure our border, bolster our economy, bring back good jobs, and lower prescription drug prices."

Chris Mack, a Merrin supporter and a volunteer for the Defiance County Republican Party, explained he wants to see change with this election and said he thinks Kaptur has been in office for too long.

“I think it limits their vision of what can be done for places like northwest Ohio,” Mack said.

Mack said he thinks Ohio’s 9th Congressional District is more Republican and that Merrin’s values are a better match.

“I think it’s a vote for solid, conservative and family values….a vote for a new path forward in economic growth for northwest Ohio,” Mack said.

Kaptur has had decades of experience with this district and said a vote for her is a vote for progress.

Kaptur and Merrin will go head to head on Election Day.