Editor’s note: Anthony Gonzalez’s name was originally misspelled in this article.
Two of the Ohio Republican Party’s rising young conservatives squared off in the 16th Congressional District primary. They were competing to be the nominee to run for the seat being vacated by Republican Jim Renacci,
Thirty-three-year-old Anthony Gonzalez, an education technology executive and former Ohio State and NFL football player got about 53 percent of the vote in defeating 29-year-old Christina Hagan, currently representing the 50th District in the Ohio House of Representatives.
Hagan said in her concession speech that she sees the loss as a beginning not an end.
"Unfortunately we were outspent 5-1. And sometimes money speaks a little bit louder when it can send a message clearer. Next time we’ll need even more boots on the ground. So we can’t give up. We have to keep fighting for what we believe in.”
During the campaign, Hagan was the more specific of the two in supporting President Donald Trump.
Gonzalez will now face Democrat Susan Moran Palmer in the general election in November. Moran Palmer is a health-industry professional, whose win was a surprise. Grant Goodrich, a former Marine Corps major who directs the Great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Western Reserve University and raised the most money, came in a distant second.