Primary voters in Ohio’s 15th Congressional District are about to decide which Democrat gets a crack at Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Carey this fall. On the ballot Tuesday: former state representative Adam Miller and Ohio State University professor Don Leonard, two very different Democrats fighting for the same prize. Whoever emerges will carry the party’s banner into November in a district that has leaned red in recent years.
As reported by The Columbus Dispatch, Miller is a former Ohio state representative who served multiple terms in the Statehouse and was the Democratic nominee for this district in 2024. Leonard is a first-time congressional candidate and former OSU professor. The Dispatch notes that in the final weeks of the campaign, the two hustled through suburban precincts and small towns across the southwestern Columbus metro, working to persuade the same pool of primary voters that they are the one who can give Carey a real race in November.
District lean and November outlook
The 15th District runs across southwestern Franklin County and stretches into parts of western Ohio, and it remains a tough backdrop for Democrats, according to the Cook Political Report. Cook notes that Rep. Mike Carey won the district comfortably in 2024, leaving any Democratic nominee with a steep climb this fall. That Republican tilt has national strategists watching to see whether either Democrat can pull together enough money, organization, and attention to turn the general election into something more than a long-shot challenge.
Meet the candidates
Adam Miller is a Columbus native, attorney and former state lawmaker who served in the Ohio House and ran in this district in 2024, when he lost to Carey; his background in education and state government is summarized on Wikipedia. He is leaning hard on that experience and prior name recognition, arguing that familiarity with the district and the legislative process makes him the safer bet against an entrenched Republican incumbent.
Don Leonard, who left Ohio State’s faculty to mount a grassroots campaign, leans into economic populism and protections for working families on his campaign site, Don for Ohio. Leonard’s team casts the race as a chance to confront Carey on healthcare and labor issues, contrasting their more confrontational, movement-style approach with Miller’s emphasis on experience and perceived electability.
Leonard's arrest and legal questions
Leonard drew extra scrutiny in late March when Grove City police arrested him after he used a megaphone at a "No Kings" protest. WOSU Public Media reported that he was cited for violating a noise ordinance and charged with obstructing official business before being released later that day. The incident gave Miller’s side fresh material to contrast styles and temperament, while Leonard has said he will challenge any charges if prosecutors decide to move forward. For voters, it has turned into one more point of comparison between the candidates rather than a campaign-ending scandal heading into Tuesday’s vote.
The outcome will show whether Democrats in the 15th prefer a repeat challenger with an existing profile or a first-time insurgent with a more activist message. Either way, the winner will immediately face a tougher test: turning a local primary victory into a credible November campaign against a well-established Republican in a district that still leans GOP.
