Kevin J. Coughlin (born May 13, 1970) is a Republican former member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

, who represented the 27th District from 2001 to 2010. He was a member 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 ...

from 1997 until 2000. He served as Clerk of the Stow Municipal Court from 2013 to 2015. Since 2010, he has been president of Lexington Companies, a marketing company. Coughlin won the Republican nomination in the 2024 primary for

Ohio's 13th congressional district The 13th Ohio's congressional districts, congressional district of Ohio is represented by United States House of Representatives, Representative Emilia Sykes. Due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States census, Ohio lost its 17th and ...

. He was narrowly defeated by Democrat

Emilia Sykes Emilia Strong Sykes (born January 4, 1986) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Ohio's 13th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

in the general election. Coughlin has announced that he will seek a rematch with Sykes in the 2026 election.

Life and career

Coughlin graduated from Woodridge High School in

Peninsula, Ohio Peninsula is a village in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States, along the Cuyahoga River. The population was 536 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. Peninsula is located in the middle of the Cuyahoga Valley Nat ...

, in 1988, received a BA 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 ...

in 1992, and a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

from BGSU in 1994. In 1996, he ran for the

after Representative Wayne Jones vacated to run for the

. He won the seat, and was sworn into office on January 3, 1997. He won reelection in 1998 with 63.64%, and again in 2000 with 63.9% of the vote. Coughlin served two and one half terms in the Ohio House of Representatives.

Ohio Senate

After four terms in the Ohio Senate, Senator Roy Ray retired early in 2001, leaving Senate Republicans to appoint someone to the vacant 27th District. Coughlin was appointed, and was sworn into office on February 2, 2001. He won his own four-year term in 2002 with 52.98% of the electorate against Democrat Tom Bevan. He won reelection in 2006 with 52.28% again Judy Hanna. In the Ohio Senate, Coughlin was Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services, & Aging Committee from 2004 to 2011.

Later career

In 2009, Coughlin considered running for

Governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. He declined to run after former

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

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 ...

announced his candidacy. Coughlin formed an exploratory committee to consider a run for

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. In October 2011 he announced he would not run, citing incumbent

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown ( ; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2007 and the 47t ...

's strong polling numbers. Coughlin serves on the board of directors of the Ohio Capital Square Foundation and is a member of the Summit County Republican Executive Committee and Finance Committee. He lives in Bath Township, Ohio. Coughlin is the Ohio chair for U.S. Term Limits.

United States House of Representatives elections

Coughlin easily defeated two opponents to win the 2024 primary to be the Republican candidate for

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. During the general election, he was narrowly defeated by incumbent Democrat

. Coughlin is seeking a rematch with Sykes in the 2026 election.

2024 Congressional campaign

In 2024, Coughlin was the Republican nominee for

Ohio's 13th Congressional District The 13th Ohio's congressional districts, congressional district of Ohio is represented by United States House of Representatives, Representative Emilia Sykes. Due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States census, Ohio lost its 17th and ...

, running against incumbent Democrat

. The race was closely contested, with significant national attention and outside spending. Political action committees aligned with Republican leadership, including the

Congressional Leadership Fund The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Super PAC, which was closely linked to former House Speaker John Boehner and House GOP leadership, was founded in 20 ...

, supported Coughlin’s candidacy through independent advertising campaigns. Some of the advertisements highlighted Sykes’s previous support for

bail reform Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when r ...

legislation, a topic that became a focal point during the campaign. Media coverage at the time noted that the ads generated debate over public safety policy and campaign messaging. Coughlin ultimately lost the election, receiving approximately 48.9% of the vote.

References

External links

Kevin Coughlin.com
official website
Lexington Companies
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Kevin 1970 births 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly Bowling Green State University alumni Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Republican Party Ohio state senators