First Republican announces run against Greg Landsman

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman now has his first Republican challenger for reelection next year.

Orlando Sonza, 32, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor from Springfield Township, launched his campaign Monday night at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio. It could be one of the most competitive races in the state next year.

Sonza, who grew up in New Jersey, is an Army veteran and graduate of West Point.

Sonza ran and lost a race for Ohio State Senate in 2022 against Catherine Ingram for District 9, which covers a large portion of Cincinnati as well as the central Hamilton County suburbs. He is also a member of the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee, the governing body for the party.

"Orlando is a rising star in the Republican Party, and I'm thrilled to see him jump into this race," Hamilton County GOP chairman Russell Mock said in a text message to The Enquirer. Mock said no other potential candidates have approached him about running. "He will be a candidate to be reckoned with."

Sonza denounces the 'woke movement.'

Mock was one of the dozens of Republicans who filled the President's Room at the 220-year-old Golden Lamb Inn for the launch.

Sonza told the crowd he was dismayed by division in the country, division he blamed on the "woke movement."

He also blamed his opponent, Landsman.

He cited Landsman's vote against the Parents Bill of Rights, which would give parents the right to review a school's reading materials and budgets. President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats opposed the bill, saying it would limit access to teaching materials and politicize education.

"Our rights as parents have been under attack in this country," Sonza told the crowd on Monday. "You know it and I know it."

Sonza also talked about his opposition to abortion saying "he will stand up for life." But after his speech, when asked by the press, he wouldn't specify how many weeks after conception abortion should be banned. He was whisked away by a staffer after the question was asked.

Landsman, 46, a Democrat from Mount Washington, is in his first term as a congressman representing Ohio's 1st Congressional District, which covers Cincinnati, eastern Hamilton County and all of Warren County.

Landsman defeated U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot in 2022, becoming the first Democrat in 12 years to represent the region in Congress.

The district boundaries through the redistricting process gave Democrats a slight edge by 2 percentage points in 2022.

Who else may run against Landsman?

There could be other Republican candidates that enter the race, though none have filed with the Federal Election Commission.

One Republican who isn't running is former Cincinnati City Councilwoman Amy Murray. Sonza asked her months ago whether she planned to run, Murray told The Enquirer. She said she assured Sonza she wouldn't.

Murray said she considered running for Congress a few years ago but decided against it. She said she's happy with her current role as senior fellow for the National Defense Industry Association, a trade association for the U.S. government and defense industries, and as a corporate board member for American Financial Group.

Sonza impressed her as a candidate, Murray said, particularly his military background.

"I remember coming away thinking what a great candidate and what a strong person," Murray said.

Exactly what the district will look like also remains uncertain. Ohio Republicans will have to redraw district boundaries after the current maps were declared unconstitutional.

Mount Lookout Republican Tom Brinkman, an outspoken conservative and former Ohio state representative, also said he isn't running for the seat. But he did advocate for someone else. He'd like to see veteran congressman, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, get moved back into Hamilton County. The Republican who previously called Columbia Tusculum home now lists his official residence as his farm in Hillsboro. The new boundaries drawn for the 2022 election moved his 2nd Congressional District out of Hamilton County, stopping at the border with Clermont County. He had previously represented eastern portions of Hamilton County and Cincinnati.

Brinkman would like to see all of Cincinnati and Anderson Township drawn into Wenstrup's district.

"The best way to beat Greg Landsman is to bring Brad Wenstrup's district back into Hamilton County," Brinkman said. "The city plus what he has now would be an excellent district for him to run and win to give me and many like me a wonderful representation in Congress."

Sonza told reporters after his campaign launch that he has not had discussions with state lawmakers on how his district should be drawn.

"I don't have any plans to drop out of this race no matter how this district is drawn," Sonza said.

Landsman didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Sonza's announcement prompted a prominent labor leader to reaffirm labor's support for Landsman. AFL-CIO President Bill Froehle, in a text to The Enquirer, slammed Sonza as anti-labor for supporting Issue 1, the constitutional amendment on the ballot for August 8 that would change the rules for future amendments to the Ohio Constitution.

He praised Landsman as "the hardest working person most of us know."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who will challenge Greg Landsman in 2024 election