Rulli’s win in Ohio will grow GOP’s razor-thin majority in the US House

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli has won a special election in eastern Ohio for a U.S. House seat that has sat vacant for months, expanding the GOP’s narrow majority in the congressional chamber. Rulli defeated Democrat Michael Kripchak to fill the remainder of Republican Bill Johnson’s unexpired term. The two face off again Nov. 5 for a full two-year congressional term that begins in January. Rulli is a second-term state senator from Salem in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley, where he directs operations for a chain of family-owned grocery stores. Ohio’s 6th Congressional District has lacked a representative since Johnson retired in January to become Youngstown State University president.