Hamilton County Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement candidate for one of Ohio’s more competitive state legislative districts after the party’s nominee for the November ballot abruptly quit this week.
Elizabeth Maier surprised Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday when she announced on her campaign website that she was ending her campaign for Ohio’s 27th House District.
Maier did not respond to an interview request from Signal Statewide. But in the statement posted to her campaign website, she said she ended her campaign after a conversion with one of her four children.
“From the very beginning, I’ve said that family comes first,” Maier said. “The closer we got to November, the more I found myself wrestling with whether I could continue this campaign without compromising the priorities that inspired it. Recently, one of our children asked me a question that made me stop and ask whether I was truly living the values I’ve been campaigning on. I realized that if family comes first, it has to begin with my own.”
Maier, a member of a prominent local family, had been Republicans’ pick to challenge Democratic Rep. Rachel Baker. Baker represents the 27th District, which runs from the northern Hamilton County suburbs of Lockland, Lincoln Heights and Reading, east through Amberley, Silverton and Madeira, to Anderson Township along the county’s eastern edge.
The Hamilton County Republican Party now has until an Aug. 10 deadline to find a replacement for Maier. County GOP Chairman Josh Gerth said local Republicans have heard from “a couple” interested people, whom he did not identify.
“That said, Elizabeth may be leaving this race but Republican voters in the 27th House District can rest assured that the Hamilton County Republican Party will identify and put forward a qualified candidate to represent the Party against Rachel Baker this November,” Gerth said.
Maier is the second Republican candidate in a competitive suburban district to end their campaign in recent weeks.
Nathan Manning, a state senator from Lorain County, dropped out of his race earlier this week to accept an appointment from DeWine to a vacant state appellate court position. Lorain County Republicans are similarly looking for Manning, who had been running in the 52nd District, a top pickup opportunity for Democrats.
As for the race for the 27th District, Baker said in an interview that her approach won’t change.
“Regardless of who is put in the race, I’m still going to be knocking on a gazillion doors, meeting a bunch of people and making sure I’m connected with what the issues are here,” Baker said. “… It doesn’t change much for me. It will just be interesting to see who’s put in there.”
The bigger picture
Overall, Ohio Democrats’ goal for the November election is to break Republicans’ long-held supermajority in Columbus, which has given the GOP the ability to override governor’s vetoes.
Doing so requires them to flip six Republican-held seats while keeping all the ones they currently hold. Democrats’ main targets are the five suburban districts, including the 52nd District, where President Donald Trump won by fewer than 5 percentage points in 2024, and 6th District in the Dayton area that Harris narrowly won.
The 27th District, which Baker has held since 2022, is relatively safe for Democrats. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Baker both won the district by about 12 points in 2024. But the district is theoretically competitive under the right circumstances. Republicans have won there in the past, including Gov. Mike DeWine’s six-point victory there in 2022. Maier dropping out likely will ease the pressure on Democrats when it comes to holding their existing seats.
Maier had campaigned hard since announcing her candidacy last year, raising about $136,700 overall. Baker, meanwhile, had raised $94,600 during the same time.
