The area’s state representatives and its congressional representative will face primary challenges in Ohio’s May 5 primary, according to filing information from the Jefferson and Belmont county boards of elections and the secretary of state’s office.

Incumbent State Rep. Ron Ferguson of Wintersville will face a Republican primary challenge from former state Sen. Frank Hoagland of Adena in the Ohio House of Representatives’ 95th District. Ferguson has held the seat since the 2020 election. Hoagland represented the area in the state Senate from 2017 until he retired from the position in 2023.

Charrie L. Foglio of Toronto is the only Democrat who filed for the seat.

In the 96th District, Rep. Ty Moore – who was appointed to the seat last June after after Don Jones resigned to become the executive director of the Ohio Farm Service Agency – will run unopposed in the primary, but will face a general election opponent in either Democrats Paul Cameron of St. Clairsville or James Antoni Joyce of Athens.

U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, who currently represents Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, has attracted numerous challengers. A Republican from Salem, Rulli will face a GOP primary challenge from Jullie Kelley of Monroe. Rulli was elected in June 2024 to an unexpired term and then to a full term five months later. He is seeking his second, full two-year term in November.

Kelley ran in 2023 for a trustee position in her Carroll County township, finishing last with 9% of the vote.

Six Democrats filed nominating petitions in the 6th District for the May 5 primary. They are: Sean Connolly of Canfield, Malcolm Ritchie of Dover, Adrian Vitus of Poland, Brent Hanni of Youngstown, Charles DiPalma of Steubenville and Elizabeth Kirtley of New Philadelphia.

Hanni has spent the past two months as head fiscal officer at the Mahoning County Clerk of Courts. Before that, he was senior executive catering chef at Kent State University for nearly four years.

Connolly owns a tattoo business in Canfield. With redistricting, Connolly’s Canfield home is being moved with this election from the 6th District to the 14th. But state law doesn’t require him to live in the district. Vitus worked as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development before cuts were made by the Department of Government Efficiency.

Ritchie is a retired Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and a retired locomotive engineer. DiPalma unsuccessfully ran for an Ohio House seat in 2022, getting 28.7% of the vote.

Little is known about Kirtley, who states she is a writer on her Facebook page.

The candidates need at least 50 valid signatures to qualify for the May 5 primary election.

May 4 is the filing deadline for candidates who want to run as independents for the congressional seat, or any office for which a primary election must be held.

In Belmont County, four will vie for county commissioner – Republicans Dominic DeFelice of Shadyside, Chuck Probst of Bridgeport and David C. Schafer of Bethesda, along with Democrat Franklin Cecil Shaffer Jr. of Bellaire. Four Republicans will compete for the Belmont County Auditor’s job – incumbent Cindi L. Henry of St. Clairsville, Jim Cook of St. Clairsville, Nick Ferrelli of Shadyside, and Josh Meyer of Bellaire.

Two judgeships in the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas are up for grabs. Current Judge Chris Berhalter of Martins Ferry is running unopposed for one seat, while Kevin Flanagan of Bellaire and Michael P. McCormick of Bethesda will compete for the other. In the Court of Common Pleas Probate Division, current Judge Albert E. Davies is running unopposed.