The minute Phil Heimlich decided to run as the anti-MAGA candidate in a Trump-loving district, his fate was sealed. He managed to get only 5% of the vote in the 2nd Congressional District GOP primary, good for a middle-of-the-pack finish, according to unofficial election results. He didn’t earn a seat in Congress, but he did earn my respect.
Heimlich, a former Cincinnati councilman and Hamilton County commissioner, cares about democracy. He is a rare-breed Republican these days who has the guts to speak out against Donald Trump’s lies, dangerous rhetoric and misdeeds. When Hamilton County’s GOP chairman was urging candidates to dodge an Enquirer survey about Trump and the January 6 Capitol riots, Heimlich happily answered the questions: The events at the Capitol on Jan. 6 were an insurrection, pure and simple; Trump should not hold office if convicted of the serious felonies with which he is charged; the 2020 election wasn’t stolen.
Those answers aren’t going to earn you many votes in Trump Country, but winning elections isn’t everything. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
If you paid any attention to Heimlich’s campaign, then you’d know his answer to that question too.
Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at kaldridge@enquirer.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @kevaldrid. You can message him with any recommendations for handshakes or headshakes.
Out of 11 Republican candidates in Ohio’s 2nd U.S. House district primary, only Phil Heimlich has been willing to stand up for democracy
The reddest district in the state of Ohio could be poised to elect a non-MAGA candidate, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) said on Sunday.
Kinzinger, a frequent critic of Trump who is also known to blow up right-wing conspiracy theories on social media, said in his Substack that there are “some very important primary elections on Tuesday.”
There are no less than 11 Republicans on Tuesday’s primary ballot, all seeking to replace soon-to-be-retired congressman Brad Wenstrup in Ohio’s 2nd congressional district.
With almost all candidates in contested Republican primaries nationwide frenetically trying to associate themselves with former President Donald Trump, one stands out for openly doing the opposite.
In a 12-way Republican race to replace retiring Republican Rep. Brad Wenstrup in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, longtime local official Phil Heimlich is running in the state’s March 19 primary as an unabashed critic of Trump, on multiple grounds.
A southern Ohio Democratic Congressional candidate has announced he is dropping out of the race for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District and has thrown his support behind a Republican.
In a statement Wednesday, Joe Wessels announced his withdrawal from the race and has endorsed Republican candidate Phil Heimlich in the March 19 GOP primary.
Joe Wessels, one of two Democratic candidates for Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District, announced on Tuesday that he is withdrawing from the March 19 primary race and throwing his support behind Phil Heimlich, a self-professed anti-MAGA candidate who is one of 11 Republican primary candidates.
Heimlich’s father is the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, and he said that’s his inspiration for running.
“When he introduced it he had all kinds of opposition from the medical establishment,” he said. “None of them would support him and he fought them and got the word out and thousands of lives have been saved. In politics, whether I was a prosecutor, city council member, or county commissioner, I’ve always been willing to stand up for what I believe and stand up to the establishment and sometimes the republican establishment.”
Heimlich said he felt like this part of the country has been treated as flyover country for a long time.
A former assistant county prosecutor and councilman from the Cincinnati area with a famous father is running for the Republican primary in Ohio Congressional District 2. Phil Heimlich chatted with Thursday’s lunchtime crowd in the continuing candidate series offered by the Republican Women of Ross County.
Heimlich promotes himself as an “Anti-MAGA” Republican, saying that he will not make personal attacks or call people names, like Donald Trump does. He says we must have a peaceful transfer of power, and that false claims of a stolen election do no protect our democracy. However, Heimlich said he will work with Trump as needed if he is elected.
Phil Heimlich, a former Hamilton County commissioner, two-term Cincinnati City Council member, and assistant county prosecutor, today announced his candidacy in the Republican primary for Ohio’s Second District Congressional seat.
“I’m running to restore the values that made the Republican party great: Respect for the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power, the dignity of our fellow men and women, and the pursuit of truth,” Heimlich said.
© Copyright Phil Heimlich — All Rights Reserved.