COLUMBUS — Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin is running the playbook of most Republicans hoping to unseat a Democratic incumbent in Congress: focus on immigration and tie your opponent to the low approval ratings of President Joe Biden.

He pitches himself as a “rock solid conservative” who would help stop the “invasion” of illegal immigrants at the southern border.

But Merrin, at just 38 years old, has opened up another front in the race to challenge Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), the longest-serving woman in congressional history. He wants to use her 40-plus years in the House to paint her as out of touch with the voters of northwestern Ohio and is using the idea of term limits as one way to do it.

Merrin, endorsed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), must first compete in the Tuesday primary for Ohio’s 9th District if he is to face Kaptur in the fall. He entered days before the December filing deadline and has a tough opponent in Republican Craig Riedel, a former member of the Ohio House.

But in a phone interview with the Washington Examiner, he spent most of his attention on Kaptur, one of five Democrats who represent a district won by former President Donald Trump in 2020.

“I believe people are looking at the next generation to secure the future of America, because our country is in trouble, with open borders, a breakdown of the rule of law, and we’re facing a fiscal collapse in our monetary system and our dollar if we cannot get control of our spending,” he said.

The race will be the most difficult of Kaptur’s career — her comfortably blue district has been redrawn to favor a Republican — but she is a formidable candidate who presents herself as a voice for Rust Belt voters increasingly overlooked by the Democratic Party.

Merrin hopes to cast her brand of economic populism, tailored to the union workers of her Toledo-based district, as a sign she’s too far left for Ohio, calling her a “Bernie Sanders-type liberal.”

However, he’s also using her long tenure to convince voters she’s a hobnobbing member of the Washington establishment.

“I think she enjoys having brunch overlooking the Potomac River more than she likes trying to solve problems around Lake Erie,” he said.

Kaptur, 77, is an easy target for that kind of critique. She’s served in Congress since 1983 and last year surpassed former Maryland Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski for the title of longest-serving woman in either the House or Senate. But Merrin sees his relative youth as helping draw the contrast, too.

He quickly rose through the ranks in the Ohio House of Representatives, winning the vote to become Republican leader in a mere four terms despite losing a floor fight for speaker that has fractured the state party.

His entry into politics started much earlier. At age 19, he became a member of the Waterville City Council and mayor of the town two years after that.

He left elected office for a time to invest in the real estate market but, now a 30-something in the statehouse, sees himself as part of a “new generation of leadership” that would bring a different voice to Washington. 

“I am, and many people are, fed up with these elitists that just want to sit and own a seat for almost their entire lives and an entire generation,” he said. “We have many people that are able to serve.”

The Kaptur campaign did not respond to a request for comment by press time, but the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has leveled the same types of accusations at Merrin, calling him an “out-of-touch politician” beholden to special interests.

Nonetheless, Merrin has leaned into the anti-establishment messaging with a call for term limits, signing a pledge to co-sponsor legislation barring politicians from serving longer than six years in the House.

In the interview, he would not commit to self-limiting himself apart from the bill, arguing the exact number of terms would need to be a legislative compromise, but he dismissed the idea that he’d become a fixture of Congress.

“I have no intention of staying in Congress for decades,” he said.

The path to get there will be challenging. Merrin has had a short runway to campaign after Johnson recruited him to join the race.

“It’s been a major concern. I mean, Craig Riedel has been basically campaigning for Congress for three years, and I’ve had 60 days to catch up,” he said.

His prospects improved when J.R. Majewski, who lost to Kaptur by 13 points in 2022, bowed out at the last minute, to the relief of national Republicans fearing he would hand her another victory in November.

Also working in his favor is leaked audio in which Riedel calls Trump “arrogant.” The tape ultimately led members of House leadership to withdraw their support.

Merrin predicted he will prevail on Tuesday, but the race is expected to be close. He faces negative advertising from Riedel that attempts to tie him to ex-Speaker Larry Householder, who was sentenced to 20 years in 2023 as part of a bribery scandal. Merrin was one of 21 Republicans who voted against his expulsion two years earlier.

“He’s certainly taken a very negative, negative tone against me in the final weeks of the campaign,” he said.

Merrin can expect the same line of attack if he advances through the primary, according to a national Democratic operative. He will also face scrutiny for his support for strict restrictions on abortion and right-to-work legislation.

However, Kaptur understands she is in a precarious place. Last cycle, she cut an ad distancing herself from Biden and finds herself in the “frontline” program designed by the DCCC to protect swing-district incumbents.

The 9th District is rated R+3 by the Cook Political Report.

Merrin ticked through the issues on which he thinks Kaptur is vulnerable, from inflation to the $35 trillion debt, in framing her as the cause of Washington dysfunction.

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“I think the election is going to be based on policies, but a majority of the voters want, I believe, a new generation of leadership, one that puts the district and the country first,” he said.

But his campaign bets that his upbringing and career in Lucas County, an urban center where Kaptur will attempt to run up the votes, would blunt her ability to win in November as well.