Michael Rulli
Michael Rulli, a Republican businessman who has represented Ohio's 6th congressional district since 2024 after serving in the Ohio Senate, faces Democrat Elizabeth Kirtley in his 2026 bid for re-election.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
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- Born
- March 11, 1969
- Education
- Poland Seminary High School
Emerson College (bachelor's degrees in communications and speech, 1991)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Michael Rulli was born on March 11, 1969, and graduated from Poland Seminary High School and the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps.
He earned bachelor's degrees in communications and speech from Emerson College in 1991, and while studying in Boston he interned for Joseph P. Kennedy II and played in the grunge band Red Bliss. After graduating he joined his family's business, Rulli Bros.
Markets, a family-owned chain of grocery stores based in the Mahoning Valley, where he is director of operations. Rulli was a Democrat until the late 1990s and later joined the Republican Party. He lives in Salem, Ohio, with his wife, Kelly, and their two children.
Career
Before his election to the state legislature, Rulli served on the school board of the Leetonia Exempted Village School District in Columbiana County.
He was elected to the Ohio Senate from the 33rd district in 2018, defeating John Boccieri, a member of the Ohio House and former U.S. representative, and was re-elected in 2022 over Bob Hagan.
In 2019 he was one of 12 senators to vote against House Bill 6, the legislation at the center of the Ohio FirstEnergy bribery scandal, and he co-sponsored Senate Bill 23, known as the "Heartbeat Bill".
Rulli became the Republican nominee on March 19, 2024, for the special election in Ohio's 6th congressional district and defeated Democrat Michael Kripchak on June 11, 2024.
He resigned from the Ohio Senate and was sworn in to the U.S. House on June 25, 2024, and on November 5, 2024, he won a full term against Kripchak with about 66% of the vote.
He serves on the Committee on Education and Workforce and the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and he co-chairs the Italian American Congressional Delegation.
2026 race
Ohio's 6th congressional district covers parts of Appalachian Ohio and the Mahoning Valley, including Youngstown, Steubenville and Massillon.
Michael Rulli, the Republican incumbent, was re-elected in 2024 with 66.7% of the vote and won the 2026 Republican primary with 76.2% against Jullie Kelley, a pastor. His Democratic opponent is Elizabeth Kirtley, a freelance writer who won a seven-candidate primary with 31.5% of the vote.
The general election takes place on November 3, 2026.