The Cook Political Report, which maintains forecasts for the outcomes of various elections around the United States, has moved its rating for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District from “toss-up” to “lean Democrat.”
Rep. Marcy Kaptur — an incumbent Democrat — is running for re-election in the district, but it was redrawn after the last census to a district where Trump would have won by some three percent. Kaptur, though, already finished far ahead of the Democratic share of the 2020 presidential election results, with a portion of the vote 11 percent higher than Biden in the areas that were in the district during the 2020 elections and remain there now. Combining these factors with problems plaguing GOP challenger J.R. Majewski seems like enough for Democrats to improve their chances at winning. Among other issues, Majewski — who was at the Capitol around last year’s Trump-incited riot, although he hasn’t been charged with a crime — is suspected of lying about his military service, although the word “suspected” might be too light. He claimed he served in Afghanistan after 9/11, but records show he was in Qatar — not Afghanistan.
Majewski, who has also expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, claims details about his supposed time in Afghanistan are classified. “Prior to the story, Democrats had been casting Majewski as an unhinged QAnon enthusiast who took part in a mob that attacked police. But it was far from clear those attacks would disqualify him in a GOP-redrawn seat that voted for Donald Trump by three points in 2020,” Dave Wasserman at the Cook Political Report noted. The issue of Majewski claiming military service that records suggest didn’t exist has provided Democrats with another opening. Who wants a liar representing them in Congress?
Majewski is even suspected of lies about the nature of punishment he received in the military, which his campaign claimed was connected to a so-called brawl. It was actually an incident of drunk driving, records indicate. Driving drunk while in the military could be perceived as less impressive — less of a “tough guy” thing — than participating in “brawls,” although both options remain suspicion-warranting.
“I’m sure we’ve all done something as young adults that we look back on and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?’ And I’m sure our parents and grandparents share these sentiments,” Majewski said. That’s not the main issue. Why would his campaign lie about it, if it’s really along the lines of something we’ve “all done”? As for the Afghanistan claims, he has made them repeatedly and in detail. “I lost my grandmother when I was in Afghanistan, and I didn’t get to see her funeral,” he claimed early last year. Someone who lies to such an extent probably has no business getting anywhere near a seat in Congress. The National Republican Congressional Committee, a national GOP organization that deals with House races, has cancelled about $1 million in planned ads in the Ohio district for Majewski.
