Voters will choose from three candidates in the race for Ohio's 15th congressional district, where incumbent Rep. Mike Carey is seeking reelection.
Carey, a Columbus Republican, faces challenges from Democrat
Don Leonard and Libertarian Brennan Barrington. Carey has been in Congress since winning a special election in November 2021.
Ohio's 15th Congressional District crosses into six counties, including all of Madison County. In Franklin County, the district includes parts of south and west Columbus, Grove City, Hilliard and Dublin. The district is drawn to favor Republicans, but ratings agencies have said it is more competitive in this cycle.
Ohio's general election is Nov. 3, with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters also may cast their ballots early at the Franklin County Board of Elections, located at 1700 Morse Road.
The information below was supplied by candidates responding to a questionnaire. The Dispatch only edited responses for length or clarity. Carey's campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Don Leonard
Age: 48
Party: Democrat
Campaign website: DonForOhio.com
Background: Don Leonard knows what it’s like to be on the outside of the American dream looking in. Raised by a single mom, his family struggled with poverty and homelessness. It was Medicaid, public school teachers and dumb luck that got Leonard through and allowed him to live his American dream. Don Leonard served in the U.S. Peace Corps in South America, earned a Ph.D. in government from Cornell University and spent the last 10 years as a professor at The Ohio State University. Now, he is running to represent the residents of Ohio’s 15th Congressional District in Washington, D.C.
Why are you the best candidate? Ohioans want change, and they want representatives in Congress who are willing to fight for and make that change. I am running because I share the same struggles, frustrations and hope as my neighbors. If you send me to Washington, I will call out cowards and stand up to bullies. I will work across party lines to get things done for the working families and small businesses of Central Ohio. I was raised conservative. Today, I am a proud Do-Something Democrat. I am fighting to take our government back from the billionaire class and the special interests that corrupt our politics. That is why I don’t take a dime of PAC money from corporations or foreign lobby groups. At the same time, we must make the economy work for us. That is why I am fighting to ensure that families like mine can afford the basics like health care, child care and homeownership while, at the same time, being able to grow old and retire with dignity. Above all else, I am fighting so that little ones like our beautiful daughter can grow up healthy and live their American dreams. Take it back. Make it work. Dream again.
What is your plan for addressing the rising cost of living? One job should be enough to get ahead and start a family. That is why I will go to Washington and fight to bring down the everyday costs for Ohioans. Taking on the corporate establishment begins with fixing private health insurance so that Americans don’t pay twice as much as citizens in other wealthy countries. We must also create a public option, like Medicare, for all who want it, so that no one gets left behind. Second, Ohioans shouldn’t have to wait until their 50s to be able to afford a home. I support a 21st-century GI Bill for housing that doubles the rate of starter home construction. Third, no Ohio family should spend more than 7% of their monthly income on quality child care. Finally, aging should be made affordable again. That means eliminating the Social Security payroll tax cap and supporting family caregivers in the home.
Do you believe there should be federal guardrails placed on data centers? What data center policies would you pursue if elected to Congress? I am not against all data centers, but I am against dumb data centers. I support technological development and balanced growth, but central Ohio should not be turned into a dumping ground for our nation’s addiction to AI. Hyperscale data centers have been forcing themselves on our residential and farming communities by pressuring local officials to sign NDAs, pass rezoning ordinances by emergency measure and agree to tax abatements while also raising electricity prices, straining the grid and threatening the safety of our water system. That is why I support a national moratorium on new construction and a data center bill of rights that includes distance prohibitions against encroachment on farms and residential neighborhoods, promotes local control over such siting decisions and ensures that the construction of data centers doesn’t adversely affect ratepayers or threaten our national power grid. I also support legislation that promotes renewable energy usage and passive cooling technologies that reduce the impact on the natural world.
How will you respond as President Donald Trump tests the limits of what he can do without Congressional approval? As your representative, it will be my sworn duty to demand oversight as the president and senior members of his administration fail in their responsibilities to the American people. We are a nation of laws. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into selective enforcement of those laws out of political expediency. Every member of Congress is asked to take an oath to support and defend the Constitution and bear true faith and allegiance to it. The Constitution itself is clear that the president must faithfully execute the laws that have been passed by Congress. Given the myriad ways that members of the current administration appear to have failed to act in accordance with the Constitution, I support the establishment of an independent commission to uncover facts, gather evidence and issue reports to Congress regarding the conduct of the 47th president and his administration.
Brennan Barrington
Age: 30
Party: Libertarian
Campaign website: Barrington.lpo.org
Background: Brennan Barrington holds a Bachelor of Science with Research Distinction in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Ohio State University. He currently works as a water meter technician. Barrington is a member of the Central Committee of the Libertarian Party of Ohio and is a two-time delegate to the party's national convention.
Why are you the best candidate? Mike Carey doesn't care that he holds joint fundraisers with a violent abuser. He led his company to give [former State Rep. Larry] Householder a $100,000 bribe. He voted to give migrants in Ohio your tax dollars but against ending the tariffs and wars that skyrocketed your cost of living. Carey doesn't care that Trump self-deals and sells pardons. He also doesn't care for competition: He tried to exclude me from the ballot using a perjurious affidavit and a fake Libertarian who voted a Republican primary ballot. Don Leonard advocates socialized medicine, taxpayer-funded child care and other budget-tanking, failure-incentivizing socialism. Both offer more of the same: more debt, more centralization of power in D.C. and bigger government. My vision can preserve our republic by returning power to states and We the People, ending ineffective and exorbitantly costly foreign interventions, and cutting the deficit. In Congress, I would not vote in lockstep with corrupt authoritarians as Carey does, nor with New York and California leftists as Leonard would. Unlike them, I would not impose my principles on you. Rather, I would vote to return to Ohioans the ability to govern ourselves as we see fit, and to you D.C.'s power over your life and property.
What is your plan for addressing the rising cost of living? The causes of recent rise are the wars and capricious tariffs. I would oppose both, reclaiming Congress' constitutional powers. On the scale of decades, the rises in the cost of housing, education and childcare have wiped out gains from more affordable food, clothing and other necessities. Subsidies for demand, as always, only raise prices further. Deregulating these to increase supply is the only way to reduce costs. Easing high-rise construction and spare-room rentals in desirable locations frees up single-family homes for young couples and lowers rent. By taxing regular capital gains less and land-appreciation profits more, Washington can disincentivize speculation and reward productive investment. Money for education should not fund colleges' bureaucratic bloat, luxurious amenities and money-pit sports. New digital education options should be explored as ways to mitigate the huge costs of traditional secondary and postsecondary education.
Do you believe there should be federal guardrails placed on data centers? What data center policies would you pursue if elected to Congress? I consider data centers, and external costs they impose, a local issue that can and should be handled by state and local governments, which are more responsive to the needs of area residents. Federal interference is neither appropriate nor necessary. However, I am concerned about dangerous behavior from artificial intelligence, including the risk of existential danger to humanity from misaligned artificial superintelligence. As the potential harm from some vastly exceeds what could be compensated through liability, I support regulation in this area (and negotiations with China) to ensure that Skynet remains science fiction.
How will you respond as President Donald Trump tests the limits of what he can do without Congressional approval? The core powers of Representatives are legislation, investigation and impeachment. I would legislate to reclaim powers over tariffs, regulation and war improperly delegated to/usurped by the executive branch. I would support investigation of illegal/unethical activities of President Trump's administration, including the extrajudicial executions in the Caribbean and persistent quid pro quo corruption. I call for full release of documents about Jeffrey Epstein. Though I support many of Trump's policy goals, Vice President [JD] Vance would be entirely capable of carrying forward that agenda; Congressional Republicans' unwillingness to hold Trump accountable clearly stems from fear of Republican primary voters in Trump's cult of personality. In my view, Trump has committed high crimes and misdemeanors sufficient to justify removal, including his complicity in the events of Jan. 6, 2021, repeated violations of the Emoluments Clause, selling of pardons and influence via cryptocurrency, and alteration of national monuments without Congressional approval.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Meet the candidates in Ohio's 15th Congressional District race
