Robert Latta

LORAIN, Ohio - U.S. Rep. Bob Latta spent a sweltering September afternoon strolling through Lorain’s gritty redevelopment sites in a dress shirt and tie with Mayor Jack Bradley and a squad of city planners.

With enough federal and state money, the largest city in Latta’s district could turn rubble into renewal: Republic Steel’s old Lake Erie depot reborn as a lakefront park, the ruins of St. Joseph’s Hospital could be a new police and courts headquarters, a vacant former stove manufacturer as a residential neighborhood.

“The only way I can do my job is if I’m out all the time,” the Bowling Green Republican says between stops.

Whether he’s visiting brownfields sites or factories in his sprawling Northwest Ohio district that has 86,000 manufacturing jobs, Latta says he’s been on the road constantly since 2007, when he took office as representative from Ohio’s 5th congressional district.

Latta’s November election opponents see it differently. Democrat Brian Shaver and Libertarian Michael Veloff both question whether Latta is truly accessible, or whether his loyalties lie with Trump and his corporate donors. Veloff has made a running joke of it, hauling a Latta effigy around the district for “Where’s Bob?” social media videos.

In Washington, Latta chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s energy subcommittee. He says more than 30 pieces of legislation he’s written have become law , either as standalone bills or as part of larger measures.

“I want to make sure that I see what’s happening,” says Latta, whose father, Del Latta, represented the same district for 30 years, before leaving office in 1989. Latta, who toured Lorain while many of his counterparts were at President Donald Trump’s midterm political convention in Dallas, says that hands-on approach keeps him informed on all facets of the district and how federal policy affects them.

He personally signs every constituent letter that goes out.

“I know how many people are having Internal Revenue Service problems, how many people have veterans problems, how many have immigration problems,” he says. “It’s about always being accessible and being out. My firm belief is I’m here to serve.”

Shaver, who teaches social studies at Fostoria Junior/Senior High School and serves as president of the Fostoria Educators Association and leads its city council, said he got into the race to “protect our kids’ futures.” He accuses Latta and the Republicans who control Congress, of ceding their powers to Trump - allowing him to impose tariffs, demolish parts of the White House and declare war on Iran.

Shaver launched his campaign in February, won a four-candidate Democratic primary in May after spending about $600, and says he has put more than 36,000 miles on his car since. He’s been campaigning everywhere from county fairs to crowds that don’t typically hear from Democrats -- flea markets, car shows, auctions and, on one recent weekend, a punk-rock flea market and a “zombie trivia” night in Elyria.

Shaver’s platform centers on what he calls the “three A’s” — affordability, accountability, and availability. He argues Congress has “given up their entire legislative authority to the president,” and says restoring constitutional checks and balances is his top priority beyond pocketbook issues.

At Casa Bravos, a strip-mall Mexican restaurant in Norwalk that sits between an Aldi and a shuttered Drug Mart, Shaver held a “Taco and Transparency Tour” stop billed as a chance for voters “across the political spectrum” to share concerns directly with him. Several attendees said his background as a civics teacher was part of the draw.

“It feels as though there’s a branch of government -- Congress -- that no longer exists,” said Thomas Hodsden of Norwalk, who asked Shaver for a campaign T-shirt. “He can push back on overreach from the other two branches.”

Veloff, of Galion, worked in his family’s hearing-aid business and in the cryptocurrency field before his congressional run. He leans into a self-deprecating “Drunk Uncle” persona, saying he represents “a core constituency of the Libertarian party: uncles with a lot of opinions at Thanksgiving.”

One of his more tongue-in-cheek platforms: moving U.S. gold deposits from Fort Knox to his own basement. Veloff also supports bail reform for nonviolent offenses, arguing that poor jail conditions pressure defendants who cannot afford bail into pleading guilty. He has also proposed offering firearms seized in drug busts, along with training, to survivors of domestic violence who want them — an idea he says should be handled at the state level rather than by Congress.

He’d like Medicare to remain intact but fold private insurance subsidies into state and locally administered pools, and restore what he describes as a single-payer version of Ohio Medicaid. “I’m not a big government person,” he said. “I don’t think big government is the solution.”

Shaver and Veloff both say Ohio’s 2025 GOP-controlled congressional redistricting -- which switched several Republican counties from Latta’s turf into that of Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur with the aim of defeating Kaptur -- could backfire by making Latta more vulnerable to defeat. The district now includes all or parts of Lorain, Huron, Richland, Crawford, Wyandot, Seneca, Hancock, Wood and Sandusky counties.

Veloff believes that if he can garner enough votes from Republicans who are disillusioned with Trump but won’t vote for a Democrat, it could throw the race to Shaver.

Shaver is hopeful that will happen. He says he counted 87 Trump yard signs along one stretch of road in February, and four along the same route a month later. At Seneca County’s fair, he said a vendor selling Trump merchandise would shout that voters should back Shaver whenever Shaver entered the room.

“I made it a habit of going in that room about seven times a day,” Shaver recalls.

Political prognostication professionals are skeptical a turnover will happen. All rate the district as safely Republican.

Federal Election Commission reports filed at the end of June showed Latta had more than $1 million in his campaign treasury, Shaver had $8,742, and Veloff had not reported any fundraising.

On the issues:

U.S. Rep. Bob Latta:

Economy: Latta said affordability is his constituents’ top concern. He’d like to see lower interest rates to help farmers and home buyers. He said he’s been working to lower prescription drug prices through his Energy and Commerce Committee work, and his work on permitting reform will help reduce electricity costs.

Data centers: Latta says the Ratepayer Protection Act, which the House of Representatives passed before adjourning for elections, went through the Energy and Commerce subcommittee he chairs. “We want to make sure that existing ratepayers do not pay the costs of a data center,” said Latta. He said a companion effort addresses water use tied to data centers, and pointed to small modular nuclear reactors as a future option, including siting them at retired coal plants.

Immigration and ICE: Latta says his office gets some calls about ICE, and credits Trump with securing the border. Previously, he says overworked border patrol agents were so busy doing paperwork to process the influx of immigrants that they weren’t able to focus on border protection.

Brian Shaver:

Economy: Shaver said Congress’s failure to check the executive branch is the root of the affordability problem. As examples, he cited tariffs imposed by Trump, the unauthorized war in Iran, and White House renovation spending that was not approved by Congress. He also raised concerns about lawmakers profiting from stock trades while in office.

Data centers: Shaver linked Ohio’s data center boom to federal energy policy shaped by Latta, whom he criticized for taking campaign money from energy companies. He describes data centers as “development and economic advancement for billionaires,” and noted his campaign doesn’t accept corporate money.

Immigration and ICE: Drawing on the constitutional law he teaches, Shaver argued for rebuilding ICE under new rules. “We have armed thugs kidnapping people, and it’s unacceptable, and it violates the Constitution,” he said. He said the Constitution extends due process and protection from cruel and unusual punishment to everyone, regardless of their immigration status.

Michael Veloff:

Economy: Veloff said reducing the amount of regulations it takes to start up a small business” is a priority, so people can “experience working for themselves instead of being wage slaves.” He backs keeping minimum wage decisions at the state and local level; Ohio’s is $11.50 an hour. He’d also like to revive a public-service jobs program for young people, similar to the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, and to strengthen labor unions.

Data centers: Veloff said data centers are coming to the district regardless of local objections, noting that the 179th Cyber Defense Wing near Mansfield needs to be near that kind of computing power. His focus is on environmental safeguards, including protecting water supplies and scrutinizing “off-metering,” in which data centers generate their own power on-site, often with diesel or natural gas generators, rather than drawing from the grid. “We live here in the country because we like the country air,” he said. “We don’t want the pollution of a big industrial city.”