Local leaders say opportunities open with Emilia Sykes' election to Congress

Emilia Sykes lingered at home Tuesday night watching the election results come in with Kevin Boyce, a fellow Democrat and Franklin County commissioner whom she married in September during her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Her parents – longtime politicos Vernon and Barbara Sykes – came over, along with her sister and other family members.

Results for Ohio’s 13th District showed a tight race and by about 10 p.m., without knowing who would win, she decided it was time to join the watch party underway in the heart of Akron, at The Knight Stage next to the Akron Civic Theatre.

“We didn’t want people to feel hopeless in the moment,” Sykes said Thursday.

This was an important vote, not only for Sykes, but for Greater Akron, local leaders said.

It’s been about 50 years since the whole city of Akron had a single congressperson, let alone someone who grew up in the city.

Gerrymandering had sliced and diced the Rubber City into as many as four districts, each represented by people who often lived outside of Summit County, some a couple of counties away.

Local leaders said most of those representatives over the years tried to serve Greater Akron but didn’t have deep connections to the community, faced competing interests in their sprawling districts and sometimes disagreed with one another over what the district most needed.

Backstage Tuesday, Sykes – who served as state representative in Ohio’s 34th legislative district since 2015 until deciding to run for U.S. Congress  – stepped away from her family to prepare.

“When I walked back into the room, my family looked at me stoically,” she said.

She couldn’t read their expressions, she said, but knew they were about to deliver news – good or bad.

“Then, they said, ‘You won!’ ” said Sykes, who beat Donald Trump-backed challenger Madison Gesiotto Gilbert 52.6% to 47.4%.

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Sykes had prepared a victory speech and Boyce was supposed to bring it to the event, but he forgot.

“His face just completely melted” when he realized his mistake, Sykes said. “I think he was somewhat terrified.”

Sykes told him it was OK.

And even as others scrambled to print out a new copy, Sykes took the stage just after 11 p.m. without a speech or notes.

She was in her hometown. She was surrounded by her people, many she had known for most of her life. And she was ready.

“It was my name on the ballot,” she told a crowd. “But when we win, we are all going to Congress, so pack your bags.”

Opportunity opens with Sykes in redrawn 13th District

Sykes and the rest of Congress won’t be sworn in until January, but last week, Akron’s mayor, the Summit County executive and the president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce all talked about new opportunities now that the region was united into a single congressional district with Sykes in that job.

“Her experience level is going to match any incoming freshman,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said, citing Sykes' role in state government, where she served as House minority leader before running for Congress.

“It’s not like taking an actor and throwing them into Congress,” he said.

On top of that, he said he won’t need to brief Sykes on local issues like the long and winding road to a monumental federal consent decree to overhaul Akron’s sewers.

She knows it has a significant “financial impact on those who can afford it the least,” he said. Akron sewer rates have skyrocketed nearly 300% since the early 2000s to pay for the $1.2 billion project, he said.

Now, as the project is in its final stages, the city continues to push the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on ways to cut costs.

Horrigan insists Akron is being unfairly held to a higher and more costly standard than any other U.S. city facing a similar consent decree and that Sykes, in her new role, could weigh in with the EPA.

“She gets all of this. I don’t need to explain it,” Horrigan said.

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro echoed those sentiments on a regional level and added that Congress will be better for having Sykes because she was born and raised in an urban county and has different experience than so many elected lawmakers from rural areas.

“She has been a strong advocate for the marginalized,” Shapiro said.

That could come into play soon, for example, when between 5 million and 14 million people on Medicaid in the U.S. are expected to lose coverage tied to the end of COVID-19 relief funding.

Since the pandemic began, the federal government has prevented anyone from being removed from the program.

In Ohio, about 3 million low-income and/or disabled people rely on the government-paid health insurance. It’s unclear how many of those across the state or in Summit or Stark counties could lose coverage.

“Having her voice at the federal level to say, ‘Wait a minute’ ” and talk about the impact that will have on her community is important, Shapiro said.

Also, Sykes as a congresswoman may look for workarounds, Shapiro said. If the state is doing something that may hurt some of her constituents, she might find something at the federal level to offset that pain, Shapiro said.

“It’s all about people having the opportunity to change their lives,” Shapiro said. “How do we make it possible for different opportunities?”

Business looking for shared opportunities, priorities

Steve Millard of the Greater Akron Chamber said the re-drawn 13th Congressional District creates some new shared opportunities.

The Akron-Canton Airport, like many airports, had a rough go during COVID-19, when many stopped traveling, he said. It’s adding new routes again, he said, but there’s a possibility of more growth, particularly with federal infrastructure dollars.

Both Akron and Canton, meanwhile, are reinvesting in their downtowns, Millard said.

Federal tax credits for new markets and to convert buildings into residences could boost those efforts, he said.

Local chambers of commerce, Team NEO and others are all looking for opportunities to share with Sykes.

“I think that it is really important to understand that we need to take the time … there’s a lot on the plate of any elected official now,” he said. “We all need to work to help connect the dots between what’s important.”

Sykes' “learning curve is much less steep,” Millard said, “but we can’t get great value if she’s not aware.”

Sykes will continue to meet with local elected and business leaders in coming months.

Sykes said she also plans to talk to everyday constituents.

“One of the ways gerrymandering messes with communities is disconnecting people from their elected officials, Democrats or Republican,” she said.

“Not to have someone who lives here, who you might run into … to provide constructive criticism is harmful for democracy and how we serve,” she said.

Sykes said she is still learning about Stark County and where it needs her support.

During the campaign, she focused on women’s health care and abortion, public safety, the economy and other issues.

One of her priorities now, she said, is reconnecting the community to the federal government.

“It’s such an important thing to me because I don’t think people realize how many opportunities we missed out on” by being splintered into different congressional districts.

Sykes pointed to an unsuccessful effort to get about $30 million in federal funding for a polymer innovation center at the University of Akron.

Though the city produces just a fraction of the tires it once did, its scientific legacy in polymers and plastics continues, employing tens of thousands in the area. The innovation center aimed to put Akron at the forefront of polymer science and open a path to launch inventions or discoveries into the commercial world.

Sykes said UA leaders also hoped the innovation center would yield more student enrollment.

“As a Congress member, I could advocate that we need this,” Sykes said. “Until now, we didn’t have any one person to do that.”

Beacon Journal reporter Amanda Garrett can be reached at agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Opportunities open with Emilia Sykes' election to Congress