Derek Merrin

Derek Scott Merrin (born January 4, 1986) is an American politician who previously served as the state representative for the 42nd District of the Ohio House of Representatives. He was the Republican nominee for Ohio's 9th congressional district in 2024, where he was narrowly defeated by incumbent Marcy Kaptur. Merrin is the Republican nominee in Ohio's 9th district in the 2026 election, facing a rematch with Kaptur.

Life and career Merrin was born in Smithtown, New York on Long Island, and moved to Waterville, Ohio, with his family when he was thirteen years old. His father, Russ Merrin, was a public-school teacher and pastored Monclova Road Baptist Church for twenty-three years. Merrin's mother, Norma, was a registered nurse. Merrin is a graduate of Monclova Christian Academy. In addition, Merrin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toledo and a Master of Public Administration degree from Bowling Green State University. He attended Owens Community College before transferring to UT.

Merrin was elected to the Waterville City Council, a city of just over 6,000 people, at the age of nineteen. Two years later, he was elected Mayor. Along with his time in public office, Merrin previously worked for Ohio Auditor Dave Yost. In 2012 he was named 'Thirty Conservatives Under Thirty' by Red Alert Politics.

Ohio House of Representatives

Elections

With Representative Barbara Sears term-limited in 2016, Merrin entered the race to succeed her. He won a three-way primary against Republicans Vicki Donovan-Lyle and Kevin Haddad, with over 45% of the vote.

Sears resigned from the seat before the end of her term to take a position in the administration of Ohio Governor John Kasich. As the winner of the Republican primary, Ohio House Republicans led by Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger appointed Merrin to serve the remainder of Sears' term. He won the ensuing general election over Democrat Lauri Cooper.

Merrin was re-elected in 2018 and 2020, with nearly 60% of the vote each time. Following re-districting, Merrin's district was made substantially more Democratic, losing conservative western Lucas County while adding parts of the city of Toledo and inner ring suburbs. Despite this, Merrin carried the Democrat-leaning (D+2) 47th House District by nearly eight points, 53.9%-46.1% over Democrat Erika White.

Tenure

Merrin was sworn into office on August 2, 2016.

In 2017, he introduced an amendment that would place authority over lead-safety regulations with the Ohio Department of Health, preempting local lead-safety rental housing ordinances such as Toledo's. He also introduced legislation that year that would count weekends and holidays as part of the three-day notice period required before a landlord can begin eviction proceedings; the bill did not advance out of committee.

In 2022, Merrin lost the speaker election to Jason Stephens, who had bipartisan support, by 54 to 43 votes.

Personal life

Merrin is a real estate investor who owns five rental properties in Toledo.