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To: Interested Parties
From: Riya Vashi, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 5, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Carey Coleman
Since coming to Washington, Emilia Sykes has done exactly what Northeast Ohio sent her to do: put the 13th District first, work across the aisle, and deliver real results. She has taken on corporate greed, fought to lower costs for working families, and introduced legislation to crack down on public corruption. She introduced legislation to put more money back in working families’ pockets by expanding key tax credits, cosponsored a bill to protect tipped workers, and introduced a bill to force airlines to pay passengers for flight delays. She stood up against Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill so effectively that when JD Vance himself came to Akron to try to sell it to her district, the Plain Dealer reported Emilia “had him for lunch.” And she has outpaced every potential opponent in fundraising while building one of the strongest re-election operations in the country — because Northeast Ohio knows she is on their side.
On the other hand, longtime rightwing radio host Carey Coleman has spent years using his platform to push some of the most extreme positions in politics. Coleman has cheered on Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill as it rips health care away from nearly 30,000 of his own neighbors. He has publicly defended the federal agents who shot and killed an unarmed U.S. citizen — calling the outcry against her death “a scam.” He has joked on air about political violence against Democratic members of Congress, downplayed the January 6th insurrection, and accepted the endorsement of a group that has publicly called for suspending the U.S. Constitution.
Coleman has failed at managing his own personal finances for decades — filing for bankruptcy after running a company into the ground, stiffing over 50 creditors, and failing to pay his own state taxes. The last thing he should be trusted with is federal spending. Coleman is not a serious candidate for Congress. He is a talking head who peddles extremism at every turn — and Northeast Ohio cannot afford him.
Coleman Backs Trump’s Extreme Agenda to Raise Costs and Rip Health Care From Northeast Ohio
Carey Coleman has built his campaign on his full-throated support for Donald Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill — a bill that is, by every measure, catastrophic for Northeast Ohio. Coleman has cheered on the bill publicly, repeatedly attacked Emilia Sykes for voting against it, and even opposed the ACA tax credits that helped tens of thousands of people in OH-13 afford their insurance. Without these tax credits, the average family will see a more than $1,500/year increase to afford care.
Coleman’s Big, Ugly Bill threatens to kick nearly 30,000 OH-13 residents off their health insurance and rip $63 million in federal funding away from the district’s hospitals — with Akron’s Summa Health System alone absorbing nearly $27 million in cuts. It would gut the foundation of OH-13’s economy itself: health care is the largest employer in Summit County, and these cuts threaten not just patient care but thousands of local jobs in the very industry that sustains Northeast Ohio’s middle class. The bill also killed $73 million in clean energy investments in OH-13, jeopardizing nearly 38,000 Ohio jobs, and will hike Ohio household energy bills by an average of $410 a year.
Emilia Sykes voted no on the Big, Ugly Bill because she understands exactly what it meant for OH-13. While Coleman cheerleads policies that drive up costs, Emilia unveiled a Housing Affordability Agenda to build more homes and lower costs for working families, introduced the HOMES Act to make it easier to buy a home in Northeast Ohio, and led the charge on saving the ACA tax credits that helped to keep health care costs low.
A MAGA Rubber Stamp Who Peddles Extremism
Most candidates for Congress try to avoid insulting their own community on the record. Carey Coleman has built his entire career doing just that. The result is an extraordinarily clear portrait of the kind of ineffective, hyper-partisan member of Congress he would be — and it is not one Northeast Ohioans want representing them.
On his own radio show, Coleman dismissed the January 6 insurrection entirely — “no, no, no, the Democrats always project what they are in fact doing” — and then, just minutes later, said on his own show that the Capitol Police should have directed the rioters to “just the Democrat offices.” He has called the 2026 midterms “D-Day” and warned listeners that “if the other side wins this time, it’s all over.” He has claimed his political opponents support “drug trafficking, human trafficking, brutal rapes and murders.” And he has said Democrats are trying to “absolutely destroy” America’s “wonderful race relations.”
The company Coleman keeps is just as disturbing as his rhetoric. He has publicly touted the endorsement of Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski — the sheriff who called immigrants “illegal human ‘Locust[s].’” Coleman has accepted the endorsement of a group that called on Trump to “temporarily suspend the Constitution” and declare limited martial law to overturn the 2020 election. He has praised racist far-right online provocateur Nick Shirley — who harassed street vendors as “dangerous migrant scammers” and publicly endorsed an antisemitic “Jewish invasion” video — as “truly amazing.”
Most disturbing of all is Coleman’s attacks on Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by ICE agents after she had just dropped her 6-year-old son off at school. Coleman went on his radio show and said Good “put herself in that situation” and that “it was a stupid action.” He spread misinformation that the agent shot her “in self-defense,” calling the public outcry over her death “a scam” and “essentially a conspiracy.”
Coleman has also made clear exactly how he would abuse his seat in Congress, stating on his show that “if I have any ability in Congress to enact policy,” he would use it to tell “teachers unions to go to hell.” And instead of debating Emilia on the issues, he has used his radio platform to personally attack her because he knows he can’t defend his extreme agenda. Coleman is not running to represent Northeast Ohio. He is running to give himself a bigger platform.
While Coleman broadcasts some of the most extreme rhetoric in Ohio, Emilia Sykes is one of the most bipartisan Democrats in Ohio and has spent her time in Washington working across the aisle to deliver for the district she calls home — standing up to corporate greed, working across the aisle on legislation to lower costs and crack down on corruption, and refusing to let dangerous MAGA extremism define the future of Northeast Ohio.
Coleman Cheerleads Trump’s Tariffs as Northeast Ohio Families Pay the Price
Coleman has been just as reckless on Trump’s cost-raising tariffs as he is on health care. In January, Coleman declared on his radio show that “everybody is winning in the Trump economy” — a claim flatly contradicted by what is actually happening in his own district. Akron-area small businesses are buckling under tariff costs, including one local manufacturer that has already paid nearly $80,000 in new tariffs this year. Ohio soybean farmers have lost $76 million — a stunning 74% collapse in China sales. And bankruptcies in every one of OH-13’s counties skyrocketed in 2025.
While Coleman uses his microphone to cheerlead policies that are crushing Northeast Ohio’s small businesses and family farms, Emilia Sykes has spent her time in Congress fighting to actually lower costs for OH-13 families — taking on corporate greed, standing up to bad trade deals, and pushing for real tariff relief for the Northeast Ohio small businesses Coleman would happily leave behind.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
NOTUS: This Ohio Democrat Is Building a War Chest to Hold Her Seat In a Top Competitive District [NOTUS, 1/30/26]
Cleveland.com: JD Vance’s Big Beautiful Bill promotion backfires as Congresswoman Sykes “had him for lunch” [Cleveland.com, 7/30/25]
“What was intended as a victory lap for the administration’s tax policy quickly devolved into a political misstep that left the vice president on the defensive.
“The Vance appearance demonstrates how political messaging can backfire when disconnected from economic realities that voters experience. By attacking a popular local representative and making claims that many find dubious, Vance may have inadvertently reinforced criticisms of both himself and the administration’s economic policies.”
Columbus Dispatch: The Scoop: Ohio Democrat wants to crack down on corruption [Columbus Dispatch, 6/11/25]
“Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, introduced legislation to expand the definition of bribery as part of a broader effort by Democrats in Congress to stamp out public corruption. Under Sykes’ bill, federal bribery would include actions by someone in their capacity as a public official that result in personal gain.”
Akron Beacon Journal: Sykes warns cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and health benefits will hurt many in 13th District [Akron Beacon Journal, 5/29/25]
Cleveland.com: U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes introduces bill to expand bribery definition after Ohio scandal [Cleveland.com, 6/5/25]
“Claiming that corruption has become commonplace in the nation’s capital, a group of Democratic U.S. Representatives including Akron’s Emilia Sykes introduced legislation yesterday that they said would keep elected and non-elected officials from using their offices for profit.
“She noted that Ohio has had several high-profile corruption cases, including the 2023 racketeering conviction of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder in a bribery scheme prosecutors say was engineered to pass a $1.3 billion bailout of nuclear power plants owned by a subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.”
Cleveland.com: Rep. Emilia Sykes bill could force airlines to pay hundreds of dollars for flight delays [Cleveland.com, 1/9/26]
PATH TO VICTORY
Emilia Sykes has proven again and again, in the toughest political environments, that she can win in OH-13. In 2024, Emilia successfully defended her seat earning more than 51% of the vote despite significant GOP headwinds — outpacing the top of the ticket by over 2 points. In 2022, she won by an 8-point margin under new district lines, which Governor DeWine carried by 11.
Emilia has only continued to strengthen her position. She has raised over $2.5 million this cycle with more than $1.6 million cash on hand — dwarfing Carey Coleman’s $73,715 and building one of the most formidable re-election operations in Ohio. Even last cycle, when the national GOP poured resources into this district to try and defeat her, Northeast Ohio voters chose Emilia. In an environment where voters are souring on the extreme Republican agenda of skyrocketing costs, devastating tariffs, and decimated health care, the contrast with an extremist like Carey Coleman has never been sharper.
This November, Northeast Ohio voters will once again reject MAGA extremism, refuse a candidate whose record shows he cannot be trusted with their future, and send Emilia Sykes — their proven fighter — back to Congress. |
