Ohio — 11th District

CLEVELAND, Ohio — U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown worked the crowd at her annual Labor Day festival the way she has for years.

As a procession of brass bands, sororities, step dancers and Masonic lodge groups passed her podium at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Kinsman Road, the Warrensville Heights Democrat gripped a microphone and announced each group’s name with the cadence of an auctioneer.

Big name Democrats including former Ohio Gov. Dick Celeste, former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton joined her on stage in an effort to goose turnout in the state’s most heavily Democratic congressional district. The 11th congressional district she represents, which includes Cleveland and most of its eastern suburbs, hasn’t elected a Republican in decades.

“You know the importance of Shontel and me together, going back to Washington to fight against the attacks on all of us,” said Sherrod Brown, who is trying to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted.

When their speeches ended, the politicians still on stage joined hands and danced to the chorus of Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration.”

Brown is hoping for more reason to celebrate come November. She easily dispatched two Democratic primary challengers in May and is prohibitively favored to beat her underdog Republican opponent, Mike Kirchner of Highland Heights. She had nearly $1.2 million in the bank as of her last campaign finance report. He hasn’t raised enough money to file one.

Brown, who serves on the House Agriculture and Oversight committees, hopes to replace departing Minnesota Democrat Angie Craig as the Agriculture Committee’s top Democrat, and potentially chair the committee if Democrats retake the House majority.

“It’s the one committee that impacts everybody every day,” said Brown, observing it oversees not just farm policy but also SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that millions of low-income Americans rely on.

Brown says voters should send her back to Washington because of her record on constituent casework: matters like help with delayed federal benefits and IRS refunds. She also cites millions in infrastructure money she’s obtained for local projects, including funds for the Irishtown Bend stabilization project, public safety radios for first responders and infrastructure upgrades in Midtown Cleveland.

She framed the current environment as unlike anything she’s navigated before, with the economy a top issue for her constituents, given that roughly half a million Ohioans lost lost health coverage under the Trump administration’s policies and thousands in her district lost SNAP benefits.

“It’s creating a tremendous burden on people around the country, but especially in Ohio’s 11th congressional district,” said Brown.

Brown faces little danger in November.

Her opponent, Kirchner, 63, is a retired pension actuary who beat Cleveland Heights contractor James Hemphill in the Republican primary.

Kirchner says he’s running for office to draw attention to what he sees as an impending Social Security crisis. He says the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted around 2032, at which point payroll tax revenue will only cover eight or nine monthly payments a year instead of twelve. His proposed solution is to stop collecting the employee portion of the FICA tax and redirect it into protected individual 401(k)-style accounts.

He’s run his campaign on a shoestring, spending just under $1,500 through mid-September, by his own account, with $900 of that going toward self-publishing a 20-page book laying out his views on Social Security.

He’s realistic about his odds of winning and says the campaign will be his first and last.

“I just looked at one place that said I have a 2% chance of winning,” Kirchner said. “OK, well, don’t slug a whole bunch of money into that. Enjoy what you’re doing. Try to talk to people. I’m only running because Social Security needs a game plan.”

On the issues

U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown:

Economy: Brown blames the Trump administration’s tariffs and the cost of the war in Iran for rising prices in her district. “Tariffs should be a tool, not a blunt instrument that is used against even our allies,” Brown said. She said high gas prices tied to the Iran conflict are driving costs up across the board.

Data centers: Brown said she’s heard little from constituents in her district about data centers but that any federal involvement should focus on accountability. “We have to be smart,” Brown said. “It has to make sure that the data centers are paying their fair share, paying for their energy costs, and making sure they’re not leaving our communities worse off than when they came.”

Immigration and ICE: Brown has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. She strongly objects to its decision to stop temporary protected status for Haitian nationals given dangerous conditions there. Brown calls the Trump administration’s approach “cruelty, hateful, deadly.” She says immigration reform is achievable without an “obstructionist” president blocking bipartisan deals.

Republican Mike Kirchner

Economy: Kirchner said he sees the broader economy as fundamentally sound but expects prices to keep climbing, in part because of what he calls the country’s long-term fiscal irresponsibility, particularly with respect to Social Security. He said he’s wary of Congress intervening further and implementing laws that would suppress competition.

“I think that Congress could do the reverse,” Kirchner said. “They could put a whole bunch of legislation and restrictions involved, and it would end up suppressing competition.”

Data centers: Kirchner said he has no position on data centers.