The Case Against Eric Conroy

“Greg Landsman is exactly the kind of pragmatic, community-rooted leader Southwest Ohio families deserve in Congress. A former public school teacher and Cincinnati native, Greg has built a reputation as a bipartisan reformer who delivers results. Eric Conroy, on the other hand, is an opportunist who wants to rip health care away from Ohioans while being bankrolled by his father’s money and the Washington establishment. This November, voters across the district are going to see the clear contrast and send Greg Landsman back to Congress,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene. 

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To: Interested Parties
From: Riya Vashi, DCCC Regional Press Secretary
Date: May 5, 2026
Subject: The Case Against Eric Conroy

Eric Conroy says he’s a ‘true political outsider’ running against the D.C. establishment — except he’s cashing checks from the GOP establishment in Washington, is endorsed by Donald Trump, and hired the same shady political firm that’s tied to Ohio’s largest-ever corruption scandal and the $220 million scheme that got Kristi Noem fired. There is, however, one way in which Eric Conroy is an outsider: he isn’t even from the district. When he announced his campaign last July, he was registered to vote at his parent’s suburban home in the 8th District and only updated his voter registration after reporters started asking questions.

Greg Landsman couldn’t be more different. Born and raised in Greater Cincinnati, Greg is a parent and former public school teacher who has spent his entire career advocating for children and families in Southwest Ohio— helping expand access to affordable preschool before being elected to Congress to deliver for the community he calls home. In just two terms, Greg has built a bipartisan track record Cincinnati families can see and feel: $1 million for Cincinnati Police Department camera technology and mental health response teams, $24 million to strengthen domestic supply chains and national security while lowering costs, bipartisan legislation to help local law enforcement recruit and retain officers, and new legislation to make sure data centers pay for their own energy infrastructure so Cincinnati families aren’t stuck footing the bill.

Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have both shifted this race in Democrats’ favor, and Greg just posted a record-breaking fundraising quarter. Come November, voters are going to send Greg Landsman back to Congress to keep fighting for the community he’s spent his life serving.

Conroy Wants to Raise Costs and Rip Health Care Away From Cincinnati Families

While OH-01 families watch their health insurance premiums explode and their hospitals at risk of closing, Eric Conroy called Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill — the largest cut to Medicaid in American history — “terrific” and “a great step,” promising it would trigger a “huge economic boom” in Cincinnati. Six months later, tens of thousands of Cincinnati families are facing impossible choices between health care and basic necessities like groceries and gas.

Conroy’s Big, Ugly Bill threatens to kick nearly 30,000 of his would-be constituents off their health insurance, slashes food assistance for more than 34,000 OH-01 households, and strips nearly $68 million in Medicaid funding from Cincinnati-area hospitals — including nearly $39 million from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center alone. The bill also let the ACA tax credits expire, driving up health care costs for the more than 42,000 OH-01 residents who rely on the tax credits — and forcing many households to pay for the average 79% increase in insurance premiums with their savings or forgo coverage altogether. Yet Conroy believes the ACA tax credits were a “pointless fight” to have. Conroy’s Big, Ugly Bill even threatens $73 million in clean energy investments that were creating jobs in OH-01 and is projected to raise average electricity rates by 9%. Every one of these devastating outcomes, Conroy calls a win.

Conroy has also called Trump’s chaotic, cost-spiking tariffs “really needed” and “long overdue,” even as he admits Ohioans “have seen prices increase.” Those tariffs are now estimated to cost the average American household $2,500 this year, driving up the price of canned goods as much as 89 cents in Cincinnati, and forcing local small businesses to raise prices by three to six percent.

In Congress, Greg voted against the Big Ugly Bill, voted to protect the ACA tax credits to save OH-01 families money, and has been working to deliver real, bipartisan wins for Southwest Ohio like public safety investments and supply chain legislation to lower costs. Greg Landsman fights to lower costs for Cincinnati families. Eric Conroy is cheering on the policies that raise them.

A Wealthy Corporate Elitist Bankrolled by Family Fortune and D.C. Insiders

Pull back the curtain on Eric Conroy’s ‘outsider’ image and you’ll find a campaign funded by wealthy insiders and well-connected elites. Start with the Conroy family fortune: Conroy tells voters he “grew up in a blue-collar household on Cincinnati’s West Side” and “wasn’t born into privilege or connections.” That would be news to his father, Gary Conroy — a chemistry Ph.D. who has held director-level positions at major chemical companies since the 1970s, and who personally wrote a $90,000 check to his son’s super PAC, Red Bridge Leadership. That single check from his dad accounted for roughly half of the super PAC’s funding last year. The other half comes from a commercial truck dealership currently being sued for wrongful death after a bus crash killed six people. If Eric Conroy wasn’t “born into privilege or connections,” why is his campaign being bankrolled by them?

The D.C. establishment that Conroy claims to be fighting has been just as generous. He’s cashed checks from leadership PACs tied to the Republican Study Committee, which has endorsed raising the retirement age, a nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and ending birthright citizenship. Conroy has publicly defended Donald Trump’s decision to deny the release of the Epstein files — choosing to play politics and protect the Washington elite instead of standing with Epstein’s victims and demanding accountability. And Conroy has proudly touted the endorsement of Senator Bernie Moreno, who was sued over 50 times for refusing to pay his employees, and posed for photos with GOP Majority Whip Tom Emmer.

Greg Landsman doesn’t need to invent a story for a campaign rollout — he’s running on the decades he’s actually spent in Southwest Ohio as a teacher, a parent, and a representative who has delivered real wins for Southwest Ohio. His campaign is powered by the community that knows him. Conroy’s is powered by a family fortune and the national Republican establishment in D.C.

A Pattern of Reckless Judgment, Shady Ties, and Extreme Rhetoric

Eric Conroy’s campaign has paid nearly $20,000 to The Strategy Group, a political consulting firm with a scandal rap sheet that would make a career lobbyist blush. The Strategy Group was the go-to ad maker for former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder — the same Larry Householder now serving 20 years in federal prison for the FirstEnergy bribery scandal, the largest public corruption case in Ohio history. FirstEnergy funneled millions through a dark-money group to pay The Strategy Group to produce the ads that pressured Ohio legislators to pass the $1.3 billion nuclear bailout at the heart of the scheme. The same firm also landed hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid DHS contracts to produce taxpayer-funded ads featuring Kristi Noem on horseback — a scandal that cost Noem her job this March. This is who Conroy hires and trusts to run his campaign.

Conroy joked that “sometimes terrorists are easier to talk to than Democrats” — referring to the very people he claims to want to represent in Congress. After ICE agents shot and killed two American citizens, Conroy said the “saddest part” was not their death, but the lack of cooperation from local officials in an attempt to blame local police. When a Republican state senator publicly declared it would take a “civil war” to save the country if Trump lost the 2024 election, Conroy called him a “champion of Southwest Ohio,” attended a fundraiser in his honor, and cut him a check.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Tiffin Ohio: Eric Conroy, Trump’s pick for Congress in OH-1, claims modest means. Records show up to $966K [Tiffin Ohio, 4/20/26]

“Conroy says he doesn’t have much money. Federal filings show personal assets up to $966,000 and $287,500 in self-loans. 

“The financial filings describe a wealthy candidate.”

Spectrum News: Landsman campaign announces record fundraising quarter [Spectrum News, 4/6/26]

WLTW: Election forecasters boost Democrats’ chances of holding Ohio’s 1st Congressional District [WLWT, 4/13/26]

“Two major election forecasters have shifted their projections on the highly competitive race for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District to boost Democrats’ odds of retaining the seat.

“Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and The Cook Political Report each shifted their forecasts on the race for the seat — which is currently held by incumbent Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman — from “Toss-up” to “Lean Democrat” within days of one another. Both are regarded as two of the most accurate and widely used forecasters for predicting outcomes in upcoming U.S. elections.”

WCPO: U.S. House passes funding bill that would install more cameras in Cincinnati, expand mental health resources [WCPO, 1/13/26]

“As part of the funding bill, Landsman said the Cincinnati Police Department Camera Technology and Mental Health Response Team Project would deliver over $1 million in funds to enhance the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) and the Emergency Communication Center’s (ECC) current camera technology. The project would add additional cameras and improve the technology of the existing cameras.

According to Landsman, this would help to ‘stop criminal activity, assist with evidence collection, crowd monitoring and traffic management.’”

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio Democratic congressman introduces bill requiring data centers to pay their own way [Ohio Capital Journal, 4/15/26]

“Landsman’s No Harm Data Center Act would require data center operators to cover the cost of new energy infrastructure, prohibit elected officials from signing nondisclosure agreements and require a study of the facilities’ environmental impacts.”

Spectrum News: Rep. Landsman’s PBM reform bill signed into law [Spectrum News, 2/5/26]

PATH TO VICTORY

OH-01 has trended decisively in Democrats’ direction, with the Democratic margin improving by 2.9 points in 2022 and another 3.1 points in 2024. Despite Republicans’ gerrymander aimed squarely at this seat, Cook Political Report has already shifted this race to “Lean Democrat.”

Greg has only strengthened his position heading into November. He posted the best fundraising quarter of his career in Q1 — raising over $1.7 million and bringing his cash on hand to nearly $3 million, a dramatic advantage over Eric Conroy, who has just $200,000 on hand — while owing over $300,000 in debt. That is not the balance sheet of a candidate who has built real grassroots support in Southwest Ohio. It is the balance sheet of a privileged, D.C.-backed transplant trying to buy his way into a seat he has no business running for.

This November, OH-01 voters will reject Eric Conroy’s opportunistic campaign, reject the extremism he represents, and reelect Greg Landsman to Congress — where he will keep fighting for the families of Southwest Ohio he has spent his career serving.

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