J.R. Majewski, Republican candidate for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, speaks at a campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Sept. 17, 2022. The Trump-backed Republican whose military record was called into question during his unsuccessful 2022 congressional campaign announced Wednesday, April 12, 2023, that he plans to run again next year. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar, File)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Trump-backed Republican in Ohio whose military record was called into question during his unsuccessful 2022 congressional campaign announced Wednesday that he plans to run again next year.
J.R. Majewski launched his latest effort to win the GOP nomination and take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in a video posted on Twitter.
“This campaign is about the working-class citizens of Ohio,” he said. “This campaign is about putting America first. This campaign is about fighting for you. Last cycle, we started a movement. This cycle, we win.”
Majewski, of Port Clinton, previously worked in the nuclear power industry. He drew attention for drawing a sprawling banner supporting former President Donald Trump across his lawn, and also had been a pro-Trump hip-hop performer and promoter of the baseless rightwing QAnon conspiracy theory. He was also at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, though he was not accused of any wrongdoing there.
Majewski was the surprise winner of last year’s Republican primary for the Toledo-area 9th Congressional District. He bested two sitting Republican state lawmakers to secure the nomination, but ultimately lost to Kaptur, the longest serving woman in Congress, by more than 13 percentage points.
Former Ohio House Representative Craig Riedel, a Republican from Defiance, has announced his candidacy; he lost to Majewski in the primary.
Other candidates running in the 2024 Republican primary for the 9th district include former Walbridge Mayor Daniel Wilczynski and Steve Lankenau.
The Associated Press reported in September that Majewski had misrepresented his military record to voters. He claimed that he served in the Air Force in Afghanistan, but public records indicated that he had never deployed there and instead spent six months on a base in Qatar. Majewski denied the report and defiantly remained in the race, saying his deployment was classified and so not present in public records.
The AP later reported that Majewski was demoted in the military for driving drunk on an air base, another contradiction to his previous statements.
Majewski was among Ohio Republicans that Trump promoted at a November rally in Vandalia, Ohio.
