Pink Rose Society

Ohio's 13th Congressional District (2026)

The Akron-based U.S. House seat — and the one district the 2025 remap drew more Democratic, the exception that proves the rule about Ohio's map. OH-13 is anchored on Summit County.

The matchup

  • Democratic incumbent: Emilia Sykes (in the House since 2023; won 2024 by ~2.2 points).
  • Republican: Carey Coleman, a former radio host who won a five-way May 2026 primary with ~47%.
  • Rating: Lean / Likely Democratic.

The setup

  • The 2025 map shifted OH-13 from roughly D+1 to ~D+4, mainly by adding the Kent area of Portage County — a rare Democratic-favoring change in a remap that otherwise strengthened Republicans.
  • The move was consequential: Kevin Coughlin, the Republican who lost to Sykes by 2.2 points in 2024 and planned a rematch, dropped out once the new lines made the seat bluer.

The stakes

OH-13 is the counter-example to OH-1 and OH-9, which the same map pushed rightward. Read together, they show that mid-decade map-drawing is a deliberate allocation of power: Ohio's mapmakers conceded one Democratic seat here while making several others safer for the GOP.

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