Republicans grew their small majority in the House of Representatives after state Sen. Michael Rulli won a special election for a vacant seat in eastern Ohio.

According to Roll Call, Rulli defeated Democrat Michael Kripchak 52 percent to 48 percent.

“Rulli will serve the remainder of former Republican Rep. Bill Johnson’s term, which runs through January. When he is sworn in, Republicans will hold 219 seats to Democrats’ 213,” Roll Call stated.

Johnson resigned from Congress to become president of Youngstown State University.

Rulli and Kripchak will face each other again in November's election.

Some individuals suggest the GOP should worry after Tuesday's results.

The Ohio 6th CD special election results should be a major alarm bell for the entire GOP.

Bill Johnson won this seat by 35 points in 2022. It’s a Trump +30 district.

The Republican will win, but it is a 4.4 point race with 65% of the vote in.

That’s insanely bad. pic.twitter.com/y7A6dTCqDE

— Peter Henlein (@SwissWatchGuy) June 12, 2024

Donald Trump won this #OH06 Congressional district by +29 in 2020.

Tonight, the Republican who won the special election by only +8 is an Ohio State Senator who spent over $700k,

… while the Democrat is a first time candidate who only spent $25K.
h/t @sjclermont👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/0rKFCL7b0r

— Fernand R. Amandi (@AmandiOnAir) June 12, 2024

Per Roll Call:

Rulli comes to Congress from the Ohio Senate, where he was elected to two terms starting in 2018. His state Senate seat encompasses many of the same eastern Ohio communities as the 6th Congressional District, and he beat state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus by less than 9 percentage points in a March special primary.

Rulli grew up in Poland, Ohio. His grandfather and great-uncle established the Rulli Bros. grocery store in 1917, which the family still operates at two locations in the Youngstown area.

Rulli left his home town to attend Emerson College in Boston and played bass in a Boston-area grunge band called Red Bliss. Afterward, Rulli returned to Ohio and worked in the family business. He’s been in politics since winning a seat to the Leetonia School Board in 2009.

In Congress, Rulli says his focus will be on growing the local economy, including manufacturing and energy industries in eastern Ohio. He plans to take up his predecessor Johnson’s legacy as a champion of oil and natural gas.

As expected, Republicans will win this special election for Congress in Ohio – but the margin will raise eyebrows. In 2022, the GOP won this seat by 67-33 https://t.co/4s1a1uADV6 pic.twitter.com/AoGwiL1Ygv

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) June 12, 2024

From the Associated Press:

Rulli’s victory by roughly 10 percentage points was much closer than earlier GOP performances in Ohio’s 6th District. Johnson won his last four elections by more than 30 percentage points. Trump also carried the district by around 30 percentage points in 2020. While this was a special election held in the summer, when turnout traditionally dips, the results could offer hope for Democrats looking to be competitive this fall in Ohio and neighboring Pennsylvania.

“We knew the polls were gong to be close, and the guy I ran against really worked. He’s a really hard worker,” Rulli said. “But this is a blue-collar district, this is Bruce Springstein, the forgotten man, ‘Joe Bag of Donuts.’ They don’t trust the Democrats and Republicans, and they look at the individual. And I’m really good at retail politics.”

The second-term state senator is from Salem in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley, where he directs operations for his family’s 100-year-old chain of grocery stores.