Former Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes announces congressional bid
AKRON, Ohio — Less than three weeks after stepping down from her post as Minority Leader in the Ohio House of Representatives, Akron Democrat Emilia Sykes announced she’s running for Congress in Ohio’s newly reconfigured 13th congressional district, even though its boundaries are uncertain after Ohio’s Supreme Court rejected the Republican-drawn map as an illegal gerrymander.
No matter where the district’s borders end up, Sykes says she plans to run “because it’s important for a fighter who cares deeply about the community, who is willing to listen, and willing to work to be a member of Congress.
“It is a fool’s errand to try to predict what the court will do,” continued Sykes, who can’t seek re-election to her current job representing Ohio’s 34th house district because of term limits. “Northeast Ohioans should have a fighter in Congress. I want to be that fighter.”
Sykes says she listened to constituents during her deliberations to “hear some of their frustrations,” assessed whether this would be a good time to run and whether she’d be able to “put forth a campaign that I can be proud of, and the community can be proud of.”
If the final district map resembles the rejected one that included Akron, Medina County and Cleveland’s western suburbs, Sykes would be a strong contender for the seat. Much of that area is currently in the district of Rocky River Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, who decided against seeking re-election amid backlash from his own party for voting to impeach ex-President Donald Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
None of the other candidates who have announced campaigns for the seat have Sykes’ track record of winning Northeast Ohio elections. Democrats who have said they’re running include Rocky River small business owner Matthew Diemer.
The Republican field includes Shay Hawkins of Broadview Heights, an ex-congressional aide who heads a trade association for funds that invest in Opportunity Zone projects to spur economic growth in low-income communities, Max Miller of Rocky River, a former White House aide who was endorsed by Trump after Gonzalez’s impeachment vote and who has been subpoenaed by a congressional committee probing the Jan. 6 riot, and Jonah Schulz of Cleveland, who previously ran for Congress in a different district.
She declined to comment on the other candidates, saying, “my goal will be running this campaign so voters get to know who I am, to ensure they get a fighter in Congress and someone who will work for them every single step of the way.”
Sykes, an attorney specializing in healthcare issues, comes from a family with a long track record of winning local elections. She’s the daughter of Ohio Sen. Vernon Sykes and Barbara Sykes, a former state legislator who serves as President and CEO of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation.
As the leader of the 35 Democrats in the Ohio House, she says she was able to pass a higher percentage of bipartisan bills than had passed in the previous four years combined. She thinks her ability to work with both political parties will appeal to Northeast Ohio voters who feel that politics has left them behind. In her second legislative term, she says she spearheaded a law that enabled people in violent dating relationships to get civil protection orders.
“That is a piece of legislation I am confident is saving people’s lives,” said Sykes.
If elected to Congress, Sykes says she’ll “stand up to the powerful and well connected” who want to embrace the status quo and “stand up for jobs, for affordable health care and quality education, all while embracing bipartisan cooperation.”
“There are a lot of challenges that people want to see addressed, “said Sykes. “I am ready to tackle all of them. This is not a job where you pick one thing and hope to do it well. You have to do many of them. I have done that before and look forward to doing that work on behalf of the people of Northeast Ohio.”
Sykes and her father were the two Democrats on the Ohio Redistricting Commission, formed to redraw Ohio’s legislative maps in a way that complied with anti-gerrymandering reforms that Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved in 2015. After the maps were challenged, the Sykeses filed court documents that said their Republican counterparts, who had a majority on the committee, disregarded rules designed to fight gerrymandering and instead pushed through maps that disproportionately favored their own party.
Sykes said she could not talk much about Ohio’s redistricting process because she’s been named as a litigant in lawsuits that challenge the maps, but said she did not vote for the maps as a member of the legislature or as a redistricting commission member,
“They did not live up to what we thought they should have been,” said Sykes. “This is not what the people asked for.”
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Read More: Former Ohio House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes announces congressional bid