Rep. Brad Wenstrup won a fourth term in the U.S. House with a large margin over Democratic challenger Jill Schiller Tuesday.
The final result was Wenstrup at 58 percent and Schiller 41 percent.
It was the toughest race that Wenstrup had encountered since 2012, when he up-ended the incumbent Republican congresswoman, Jean Schmidt, in the Republican primary.
This year, for the first time, Wenstrup ran an ad that criticized his Democratic opponent.
His ad smacked Schiller for favoring a $15 per hour minimum wage, citing a conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, as saying it will cost the U.S. seven million jobs.
It was a sign to some that the Wenstrup campaign was worried about Schiller, a 42-year-old who worked for 18 months as a special assistant in President Obama's Office of Management and Budget.
Despite the loss, Schiller is considered by Democratic party leaders as an up-and-comer in the party, and it would not at all be surprising to see her run again – for Congress or another office.
Wenstrup has one of the more interesting resumes in Congress. He is a podiatric surgeon who joined the U.S. Army Reserves, rose to the rank of colonel and ran the military hospital at Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
He made national news when a gunman opened fire on a group of Republican congressmen as they practiced for the annual Congressional baseball game. Wenstrup ran out onto the field and applied a tourniquet to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, whose injuries were the most serious. Scalise credits Wenstrup with saving his life.
As a congressman, he has been a reliable vote for the Trump administration.
The 2nd District stretches from eastern Hamilton County to Pike County and Scioto County in southern Ohio.
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