Republican Candidate Troy Balderson speaking to workers. (Courtesy/ baldersonforcongress.org

On Tuesday, May 8, Ohio voters choose the party candidates for the upcoming special election in August. The election will be a test of the “Blue Wave” that Democrats hope will flip congress to their favor this November.

Democrat Danny O’Connor won a six-way primary to secure his Democratic  while Troy Balderson narrowly clinched the Republican nomination in a hotly contested field of 9 candidates, who are running to fill the vacated seat of Republican Pat Tiberi, who will head the Ohio Business Roundtable. His seat has long been held by the Republican party, but Democrats are seeking to change that.

Danny O’Connor is the Franklin County Recorder and has centered his campaign on health care and the economy. While he hasn’t jumped to criticize the president, he’s said that “I’d rather speed money rebuilding bridges in Ohio than building a wall in Texas.”

Troy Balderson is a Republican Senator and Tiberi’s preferred successor. He’s said that he would “use conservative grit to build the darn wall” and is an avid pro-life and Second Amendment supporter.

The winner of the special election will  have to run again in the November elections to secure a full term.