Akron native Emilia Sykes casts first votes as 13th Congressional District representative

U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes spent much of Tuesday afternoon casting her first votes in Congress as representative for Ohio's 13th Congressional District.

Joining other members of her party, Sykes voted multiple times for Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York to serve as speaker of the House, as Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy struggled to gain his majority party's support.

Although Republicans have a narrow, 10-member majority in the House, the Republican leader nonetheless struggled against a faction in his party to gain the majority required to be elected speaker.

Sykes was elected to the seat in November after defeating Republican Madison Gesiotto Gilbert with almost 53% of the vote (149,816 to 134,593).

More:Emilia Sykes defeats Madison Gesiotto Gilbert in 13th Congressional District race

Sykes is is a graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in psychology and the University of Florida, where she earned a Juris Doctor with a certificate in family law and a Master of Public Health degree.

She was the first Black female lawmaker in the Ohio legislature under 30 when she was elected in 2014 and went on to serve as Democratic minority leader in the Ohio House of Representatives. The Akron district she represented was previously held by both her father, Ohio 28th Senate District Sen. Vernon Sykes, and her mother, former Ohio House Rep. Barbara Sykes.

More:How Akron's Emilia Sykes became the future of the Ohio Democratic Party

After the recent redrawing of district boundaries, the U.S. 13th Congressional District now includes all of Akron and Summit County, along with the northern half of Stark County and a small part of Portage County.

Sykes is Ohio's third member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and joined Ohio's 3rd Congressional District Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, and 11th Congressional District Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Warrensville Heights, on Tuesday morning in a ceremonial swearing-in with other caucus members on Tuesday morning prior to the 118th Congress' first session.

Sykes sees the Affordable Care Act as key to ensuring residents have access to care and that health care providers thrive, and has worked for years on the infant mortality issue in the Ohio House. She also sees abortion access as an important component of health care and opposes the Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion rights that overturned Roe v. Wade

While she is a proponent of bail reform, she has also worked to protect victims of crime, including a bill eventually signed into law that ensures people suffering domestic violence in dating relationships can obtain civil protection orders from the courts.

Eric Marotta can be reached at emarotta@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarottaEric.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron's Emilia Sykes casts first votes as U.S. House representative