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After 9/11, I was called to serve, first in the Air Force, then with the CIA. For nearly two decades, I led intelligence operations on battlefields and in the shadows, from Afghanistan to Iraq to the capitals of Europe. Every mission had one objective: protect and serve the American people.

I never asked whether the soldier next to me was a Democrat or a Republican. We had a job to do, and we did it together, no matter the difficulty or odds. Now I’m answering the call again − this time to fight for Ohio’s middle class, bring common-sense leadership to Congress, and represent this great city and region the way it deserves.

My story is your story. As a son of this city, I grew up on the West Side in a proud, four-generation blue-collar family who taught me grit and sacrifice, especially my grandfather, a World War II Navy veteran who demonstrated to me that service is bigger than self. Those values carried me from Elder High School to the U.S. Air Force Academy, through Special Operations units in Japan and Washington, and into the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where I served as a case officer running clandestine missions overseas that kept Americans safe but never made headlines. I know what it means to put service before self, and I know the people of this district do too, every single day.

That higher calling is exactly what’s missing from our representation in Congress. Greg Landsman is a career politician who has spent his time in office, both in City Hall and Washington, serving himself and rubberstamping a partisan, Democratic agenda that has made life harder for working families. He voted with former President Joe Biden’s agenda 98% of the time. That agenda gave us inflation that reached a 40-year high, sky-high grocery and gas prices, and crushed small businesses under mountains of regulation.

That’s not common-sense leadership from Southwest Ohio. That’s decision-making from the playbook of AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and Nancy Pelosi.

The contrast in this race is clear. On the economy, I will fight to cut taxes for middle-class families, reduce the regulations strangling small businesses, unleash American energy to drive down costs, and rebalance trade deals that have shipped Ohio jobs overseas. President Donald Trump’s agenda is good for the American worker and the American middle class. Landsman’s record is the opposite: more taxes, more regulation, policies that strangle domestic energy production, and a willingness to sell out American workers to foreign competition. Cincinnati families are still paying the price for that failed agenda every time they go to the grocery store or fill up their tanks.’

On public safety, the choice is just as stark. In 2020, while violent crime was rising across Cincinnati, Landsman was on City Council proposing to reallocate hundreds of thousands of dollars from the police budget, joining the reckless defund-the-police movement. He has pushed to end cash bail, which would put dangerous repeat offenders right back on our streets. Now, he wants to abolish ICE and leave dangerous undocumented immigrants in our communities. I will stand with law enforcement and hold violent criminals accountable, and keep them off our streets.

On education, I believe every child deserves a great education − regardless of ZIP code or family income. That means empowering parents, teachers, and local school boards to make decisions, not bureaucrats in Washington. It means getting back to the basics: reading, math, civics, financial literacy, and expanding vocational training so our kids are prepared for real careers. Landsman has embraced a radical ideology that puts political agendas ahead of academic achievement, and he voted against protecting girls’ sports for girls. That’s not common sense and not what the families I grew up with on the West Side believe.

This race is about two very different visions for our community. One is a career politician who serves the interests of California and New York billionaires who fund his campaigns. The other is an outsider − someone who put his life on the line for this country, not climbing a political ladder. In the military and CIA, I learned that you don’t succeed by playing politics. You succeed by building a team, setting a clear objective, and getting the job done for the people who are counting on you.

Southwest Ohio is ready for that kind of leadership and perspective. I am asking for your support because I know what it takes to get the job done, and I’ll never stop fighting for the families of Cincinnati and this district. The American Dream should be within reach for every Ohioan − and together, we’re going to make sure it is.

Eric Conroy is a Republican candidate for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District.

Read at Cincinnati.com.

About Eric Conroy

Eric Conroy’s mission began on the West Side of Cincinnati, where four generations of blue-collar grit and a World War II veteran grandfather taught him that service is bigger than self. After 9/11, Eric answered his generation’s call, graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy near the top of his class, rising to the rank of Captain in Special Operations units, and later serving with the CIA as a Case Officer where he conducted high-risk intelligence missions that kept Americans safe.

Though his service took him around the world several times, Eric’s heart never left Cincinnati. Now, he’s running for Congress to fight for working families, revitalize Main Street, and keep our communities safe—because the American Dream should be within reach for every Ohioan.

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