Derek Scott Merrin (born January 4, 1986) is an American politician who previously served as the state representative for the 42nd District of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

. He is a Republican. He was the Republican nominee for

Ohio's 9th congressional district Ohio's 9th congressional district has been represented by Representative Marcy Kaptur ( D) since 1983. This district is located in the northwestern part of the state, bordering Michigan, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada (via Lake Erie), and inclu ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, where he was narrowly defeated by incumbent

Marcy Kaptur Marcia Carolyn Kaptur ( ; born June 17, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Ohio's 9th congressional district. Currently in her 22nd term, she has been a member of Congress since 1983. A member of the Democr ...

Life and career

Merrin was born in

Smithtown, New York Smithtown is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. The population was 116,296 at the 2020 United ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, and moved to

Waterville, Ohio Waterville is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, along the Maumee River. It is a suburb of Toledo. Its population at the 2020 census was 6,003. History Waterville was platted in 1830 by settler John Pray on the west bank of the upper ...

, with his family when he was thirteen years old. His father, Russ Merrin, was a public-school teacher and pastored Monclova Road Baptist Church for twenty-three years. Merrin's mother, Norma, was a registered nurse. Merrin is a graduate of

Monclova Christian Academy Monclova Christian Academy is a private Christian school in Monclova, Ohio, United States, southwest of Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United Stat ...

. In addition, Merrin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

and a Master of Public Administration degree from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

. He attended

Owens Community College Owens Community College (OCC) is a Public college, public community college with campuses in Perrysburg Township, Wood County, Ohio, Perrysburg and Findlay, Ohio. Owens was founded in 1965 in Toledo and chartered in 1967. The Findlay campus op ...

before transferring to UT. Merrin was elected to the Waterville City Council, a city of just over 6,000 people, at the age of nineteen. Two years later, he was elected Mayor. Along with his time in public office, Merrin previously worked for Ohio Auditor

Dave Yost David Anthony Yost (born December 22, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who has served as the 51st attorney general of Ohio since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Yost previously served as the state auditor of Ohio from 2011 to ...

. In 2012 he was named 'Thirty Conservatives Under Thirty' by Red Alert Politics.

Ohio House of Representatives

With Representative Barbara Sears term-limited in 2016, Merrin entered the race to succeed her. He won a three-way primary against Republicans Vicki Donovan-Lyle and Kevin Haddad, with over 45% of the vote. Sears resigned from the seat before the end of her term to take a position in the administration of

Ohio Governor The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state's Ohio National Guard, military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bill (proposed law ...

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician and author who was the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001, and a Republican candidate for the pre ...

. As the winner of the Republican primary, Ohio House Republicans led by

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

Cliff Rosenberger Cliff Rosenberger (born April 23, 1981) is a former American politician who was a Republican member of the Ohio House of Representatives, serving the 91st District from 2011 until 2018. He was Speaker of the House from 2015 until 2018. It was a ...

appointed Merrin to serve the remainder of Sears' term. He was sworn into office on August 2, 2016, and won the ensuing general election over Democrat Lauri Cooper. Merrin was re-elected in 2018 and 2020, with nearly 60% of the vote each time. Following re-districting, Merrin's district was made substantially more Democratic, losing conservative western Lucas County while adding parts of the city of Toledo and inner ring suburbs. Despite this, Merrin carried the Democrat-leaning (D+2) 47th House District by nearly eight points, 53.9%-46.1% over Democrat Erika White. In 2022, Merrin lost the Speaker election to Jason Stephens, who had bipartisan support, by 54 to 43 votes.

References

External links

Campaign websiteOhio State Representative Derek Merrin
''official site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrin, Derek 1986 births 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Bowling Green State University alumni Businesspeople from Ohio Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections Living people People from Smithtown, New York People from Waterville, Ohio Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives University of Toledo alumni