Ohio is poised to see hundreds of millions of dollars in outside spending in the 2026 midterms, including in the recently-redrawn 1st District, which is home to both downtown Cincinnati and to Vice President JD Vance.
Eric Conroy, the GOP’s new nominee to challenge Rep. Greg Landsman (D., Ohio), will have a firsthand view as the Republican Party’s nominee to challenge Landsman. During his primary, he got a boost towards the home stretch from President Donald Trump, whose endorsement of Conroy helped lead to one of his primary opponents dropping out before the election.
“Eric Conroy is one of the strongest Republican Candidates in the Country, whereas the current Congressman, Greg Landsman, is a weak Radical Left Democrat, who puts our Country, and Safety, LAST,” Trump wrote in his endorsement. “Eric, on the other hand, will ALWAYS put Ohio, and America, FIRST.”
Trump, Conroy told the Washington Reporter in an interview, is “the leader of the Republican Party, and his ability to rally the troops and get out the vote has been what’s very important…Here in Ohio, we’ve got a governor on the ballot, we have a senator on the ballot, and we have this House race on the ballot, so his ability to rally the troops and get them out there is really critical.” Conroy is optimistic that both Sen. Jon Husted (R., Ohio) and Vivek Ramaswamy will win their elections for Senate and for governor, respectively.
Ohio’s 1st District, where Conroy is competing, is the potential for a sleeper race, because it was redrawn to be more favorable to Republicans before the nationwide redistricting wars kicked off in 2025.
But the fertile landscape is far from the only reason that Conroy thinks he can win. Conroy said that Landsman’s “character” gives Republicans an opportunity to flip this district in a way that complements the friendly remap. “A lot of people are frustrated at how far left the Democratic Party has gone, and my opponent, Greg Landsman, is a poster child for that,” Conroy said. “This is a guy who campaigns as a moderate and then goes and governs as a California leftist in D.C., and that’s not what the people of Southwest Ohio want. This is a guy who wants men and women’s sports. He voted for the largest tax increase in American history, and voted with Biden nearly 98 percent of the time.”
There are also a series of issues that are unique to Landsman as well, Conroy explained. “He’s been involved in city council scandals here, and he’s also had a litany of insider trading issues as well. We’re going to make this not only a political election, obviously, but a referendum on character as well…He’s part of a famous scandal here called the Gang of Five, which was a corruption scandal and coordination scandal here, so much so that the judges that ruled on it said that he basically should never be in office again. And a couple of the other councilmen who were involved actually did jail time. Actually, two of them, most notably, did time. He is not a clean politician. He is a dirty politician, and he’s starting to show those colors on the Hill as well.”
One of the reasons for Landsman’s weak primary performance is his seeming willingness to moderate on several issues, especially in the foreign policy realm. But Conroy sees that more as Landsman testing the waters than leading on issues, especially ones that Conroy has lived on the front lines of during his years of service.
Despite Landsman’s efforts to position himself as a pro-Israel Democrat, Conroy sees the incumbent’s positions as a “liability…because he has to appease the far left in his party who are anti-Israel now, but he’s trying to straddle this line where he can still get the Jewish donors as well, because he is a Jewish Democrat.”
“He’s tying himself into knots over it, and it’s going to pay in the general,” he added. “His primary challenger really harped on that, and Landsman performed very terribly in Hamilton County as a result. This is one of those issues that’s going to really discourage Democratic voters from coming out in the fall.”
This assessment fits into how Conroy said he would categorize Ohio’s 1st District if he were still working as a CIA agent. “There is a desire for change” with the voters he meets, he said.
“People are tired of these extreme left Democrats that we have here who basically use Southwest Ohio and Cincinatti to push ideas from California. This is a traditionally conservative district. Steve Chabot held this seat for decades, up until a couple of cycles ago, and there’s a craving for people to get back to that common sense, problem solving, philosophy and not being beholden to liberals from San Francisco.”
But it’s not just Israel where Conroy sees a weakness in Landsman, and where he sees an opportunity for a Republican with his background. It is also in handling Iran, which he categorized as the “biggest” national security threat right now.
“But really it’s also China,” he added. “I give a analogy here on the campaign trail that China is the Porsche 911 with all the upgrades. A 2026 Porsche 911 has got all the bells and whistles on it. Russia is more like your uncle’s 1985 Firebird, which used to be really hot back in the day. It still has a few tricks, but really the concern of the room is the Porsche 911, which is China. We should be very, very honed in on China, which is probably our top priority. And then Iran and Russia are probably after that.”
To that end, he added that reactions on the ground to Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran have been “certainly positive.”
“I hear a lot of people say ‘this is a problem we need to solve, and we’re thankful for the president being able to solve it,’” Conroy added. “Of course, there’s sometimes a concern in the rise of gas prices, but I think a lot of people understand that the gas prices are still lower than they were during the Biden administration, which is something that I stress. Iran is also about out of cards to play. I’m very confident that we’ll be able to wrap this up here in the near term, and gas prices will lower as a result.”
One thing he’s less confident in, he added, are his Cincinnati Reds. He’s slightly more optimistic that Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals can win next year’s Super Bowl, by contrast.
Below is a transcript of our interview with Eric Conroy, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
Let’s start with President Trump and his role in the GOP. The president endorsed you before your primary. One of your top primary opponents dropped out because of that. What do you see as Trump’s role in the GOP in Ohio and around the country?
Eric Conroy:
He is the leader of the Republican Party, and his ability to rally the troops and get out the vote has been what’s very important. It’s very impressive as well. Here in Ohio, we’ve got a governor on the ballot, we have a senator on the ballot, and we have this House race on the ballot, so his ability to rally the troops and get them out there is really critical. That’s probably the most important part of the endorsement.
Washington Reporter:
And what about the number two, JD Vance?
Eric Conroy:
This is his hometown district. He lives about ten minutes from me in the Cincinnati area. And he’s also the hometown boy, just like me; his ability to rally the district as well under the new district lines is important, but remember that he won this district back in 2022 as well, and then also under the new lines too. Trump won it by about three points. So Trump’s endorsement and JD’s endorsement as well positions us rather nicely.
Washington Reporter:
Looking at the other side of the aisle, your opponent following the primary is the incumbent congressman. Greg Landsman narrowly won his primary; what does that suggest to you about where the Democratic Party of Ohio, and particularly in this district, is at heading into November?
Eric Conroy:
A lot of people are frustrated at how far left the Democratic Party has gone, and my opponent, Greg Landsman, is a poster child for that. This is a guy who campaigns as a moderate and then goes and governs as a California leftist in D.C., and that’s not what the people of Southwest Ohio want. This is a guy who wants men and women’s sports. He voted for the largest tax increase in American history, and voted with Biden nearly 98 percent of the time. He’s been involved in city council scandals here, and he’s also had a litany of insider trading issues as well. We’re going to make this not only a political election, obviously, but a referendum on character as well.
Washington Reporter:
Are these voters who did not vote for Landsman in the primary ones you think that you could get, or are just not going to be there for him in November?
Eric Conroy:
Both scenarios are beneficial. There’s a way we can get them as well. In the Midwest and in Ohio, people want to see common sense solutions and results, and they also want to know that someone’s actually out there for their interest. I’m the hometown kid here. I was born and raised here, several generations deep, and then I went off and served my country in the Air Force and in the CIA. People view that as me being a dependable guy. That’s probably what’s what’s best for us. He can look out for us and actually just get some common sense results here. So I think that contrast for us is a good one for all.
Washington Reporter:
When it comes to your CIA background, what is an anecdote that you haven’t yet shared on the trail that you know you feel is an embodiment of your service there?
Eric Conroy:
That’s a great question. Between my seven years in the Air Force and my seven years in the CIA, I really got to know how to talk to people. That’s really what I learned at the agency: how to talk to people and find out what their motivations and dreams are. That’s a good skill to translate into politics. You’re out there talking to people, finding out what motivates them, and what can hopefully get them onto your side. In my role as a frontline field agent for the CIA I did that on a daily basis. Being able to take those skills and use them on the political field to help my constituents is a lot of fun.
Washington Reporter:
What would your profile be of Ohio’s 1st District if you were still a field agent?
Eric Conroy:
There is a desire for change. People are tired of these extreme left Democrats that we have here who basically use Southwest Ohio and Cincinnati to push ideas from California. This is a traditionally conservative district. Steve Chabot held this seat for decades, up until a couple of cycles ago, and there’s a craving for people to get back to that common sense, problem solving, philosophy and not being beholden to liberals from San Francisco.
Washington Reporter:
In that same vein, how do you see the Senate race playing out as it maps out onto your district? And same with the gubernatorial race?
Eric Conroy:
These are all positives; we’ve got the governor’s race on the ballot and the senatorial race on the ballot, and this is going to generate turnout. Ohioans, especially the Republicans, want to make sure that this party is set on track for the future. We want to have the successful governor’s race, and keeping John Husted in office is all part of that scene in terms of voting for the future.
Washington Reporter:
Dating back to your time in the CIA, what do you think the top threats facing America are?
Eric Conroy:
That’s a great question. Iran is the biggest one right now in making sure that we have a stable and prosperous Middle East and Europe. But really it’s also China. I give a analogy here on the campaign trail that China is the Porsche 911 with all the upgrades. A 2026 Porsche 911 has got all the bells and whistles on it. Russia is more like your uncle’s 1985 Firebird, which used to be really hot back in the day. It still has a few tricks, but really the concern of the room is the Porsche 911, which is China. We should be very, very honed in on China, which is probably our top priority. And then Iran and Russia are probably after that. And so those are the top threats.
Washington Reporter:
In Congress, what would you want to work on legislatively with the Trump administration to keep Americans safe?
Eric Conroy:
That’s a very broad question, and it’s a very broad approach. We do need to focus majority of our time and energy on China, but at the same time not neglect these other threats in Iran and Russia. The Trump administration has done a good job at finding middle ground solutions. What the administration is able to do in Venezuela and Iran and find these middle ground, surgical options to enact a foreign policy change, is great. Venezuela was very quick and very fast, and the way I see Iran is really closer to a Serbia or Libya in terms of how we’re doing it and really getting them to come to the table, has been very impressive. It’s a way that we can resolve a foreign policy issue that’s plagued us for 40 years, since 1979.
Washington Reporter:
How have President Trump’s Operation Epic Fury and Operation Midnight Hammer been received on the ground in the district you’re running in?
Eric Conroy:
Certainly positive. I hear a lot of people say ‘this is a problem we need to solve, and we’re thankful for the president being able to solve it.’ Of course, there’s sometimes a concern in the rise of gas prices, but I think a lot of people understand that the gas prices are still lower than they were during the Biden administration, which is something that I stress. Iran is also about out of cards to play. I’m very confident that we’ll be able to wrap this up here in the near term, and gas prices will lower as a result.
Washington Reporter:
Were any of these regions that you mentioned as threats to America ones that you focused on in your time in the CIA?
Eric Conroy:
I did seven years in the Air Force, and seven years in the CIA.
Washington Reporter:
I don’t want to neglect the Air Force, by the way!
Eric Conroy:
Yes. I lived in Okinawa, Japan for two years in the Air Force. I worked in special operations there, so I was very familiar with the issues of the East Pacific and China. And then I also worked in war zones in the Middle East. I’m very familiar with Iran and Iraq issues there. I also spent some time in Eastern Europe for a few years as well with the CIA. I’ve pretty much touched on all those issues and lived them, both living in Japan with the Air Force and the Middle East and Eastern Europe with the CIA. It’s been a lot of fun, because I’ve got to see all of the foreign policy hot spots in my two careers.
Washington Reporter:
From your time on the ground there, what advice would you give to the people who are currently making policy for those regions that might not be evident from things that they would hear in a congressional testimony?
Eric Conroy:
There’s two things. Our adversaries have a very high risk tolerance. Their boundaries are different than ours, but they’re often broader boundaries. They’re very willing to take a lot more risk to get what they want, and sometimes through some unethical and violent ways. People need to remember that, that the world is not always a happy place, and that our adversaries are willing to really stop at nothing to challenge us.
Washington Reporter:
Greg Landsman has been trying to walk a line on Iran in particular. How do you see that impacting this race?
Eric Conroy:
He came out in support of the war, then he backtracked on it a couple of weeks later. This is going to greatly impact the race, because his flip flopping on the issue has his constituents confused and angry about it. We’ll be definitely harping on that; this goes back to his unreliability and lack of fitness for office.
Washington Reporter:
You mentioned some scandals from his time in city council. What happened there?
Eric Conroy:
He’s part of a famous scandal here called the Gang of Five, which was a corruption scandal and coordination scandal here, so much so that the judges that ruled on it said that he basically should never be in office again. And a couple of the other councilmen who were involved actually did jail time. Actually, two of them, most notably, did time. He is not a clean politician. He is a dirty politician, and he’s starting to show those colors on the Hill as well.
Washington Reporter:
Another foreign policy area that the Trump administration is working on has been Cuba. What are your thoughts on that?
Eric Conroy:
We’re finally using all aspects of our toolbox to solve these problems. We’re using economic, we’re using military, we’re using intelligence, we’re using diplomatic, and it’s very rare to get an administration that’s able to really marshal all of those angles to enact change. We’ve seen that in both Iran and Cuba, where they’re actually coordinating economic and military and diplomatic pressure to make a change. Cuba is likely to hopefully be the next one on the block.
Washington Reporter:
The other thing you mentioned is that the voters in your district are tired of the Democrats and the far left. How do you see Landsman’s positioning on Israel fitting into that?
Eric Conroy:
It’s a massive liability for him, because he has to appease the far left in his party who are anti-Israel now, but he’s trying to straddle this line where he can still get the Jewish donors as well, because he is a Jewish Democrat. He’s tying himself into knots over it, and it’s going to pay in the general. His primary challenger really harped on that, and Landsman performed very terribly in Hamilton County as a result. This is one of those issues that’s going to really discourage Democratic voters from coming out in the fall.
Washington Reporter:
How do you see the Trump administration’s agenda, like the Working Families Tax Cuts impacting the district that you’re running in?
Eric Conroy:
These policies put money back in the pockets of working class families, which we have a lot of here. We do have a significant amount of white collar companies, but this is still very much a working class district with a lot of small businesses as well. Those policies will be able to have no taxes on tips and overtime, and there’s a great clause in the OBBB about being able to use Pell grants for trade schools. These are great policies for a district like this in Southwest Ohio, where it can really impact everyday people who either have normal jobs or run small businesses. These are really practical policies that affect people’s daily lives.
Washington Reporter:
My last question is how do you think the Bengals are going to do this next season?
Eric Conroy:
They’d better do pretty well, or we’re going to lose Joe Burrow. I’m hoping it’s a Super Bowl here. I think we’re all rooting for it. I’m a little concerned about my Reds.
