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Politically Speaking is WVXU Senior Political Analyst Howard Wilkinson's column that examines the world of politics and how it shapes the world around us.

Democrat Greg Landsman's plan to survive — and thrive — in a GOP-led House

Greg Landsman speaking in front of the Capitol about the Social Security Fairness Act in Sept. 2024.
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Greg Landsman
Greg Landsman speaking in front of the Capitol about the Social Security Fairness Act in Sept. 2024.

Greg Landsman, the former Cincinnati councilman from Mt. Washington, is starting his second term in the U.S. House liking the position he is in.

That's despite being a Democrat, seated on the minority side of the aisle in the House chamber.

And it's despite the fact that his candidate for president lost in November.

Some Democrats are hanging their heads in despair on Capitol Hill.

Landsman is not one of them.

“Hard work has paid off in the past and it will pay off again,’’ said Landsman, who won re-election in November with 54.4% of the vote.

“I’ve been in the minority since my first day in Congress,” said Landsman. “There’s only one reason to have to leave your family for most of the week to come to Washington. And that is to get things done for people. The only reason.”

Landsman won re-election in November in a very competitive district. The 1st District of Ohio includes all of the very Democratic city of Cincinnati, the eastern suburbs, and all of Warren County where his Republican opponent, Orlando Sonza, won 64% of the vote.

RELATED: Democrat Landsman wins re-election to Congress

Now Landsman is part of a U.S. House where the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, has a paper-thin majority to work with — 219 Republicans and 215 Democrats, and one seat — that of Matt Gaetz of Florida — that will be vacant until a special election in April.

That means if Johnson wants to pass any of his agenda or legislation that Trump proposes, he can’t lose more than two GOP votes. And the ultra-MAGA Freedom Caucus in the House has already put Johnson on notice that their votes can’t be taken for granted.

The speaker could lose two more votes if two GOP congresswomen — Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon and Elise Stefanik of New York — win confirmation to Trump’s cabinet, which is likely.

The result: Speaker Johnson will have no choice but to reach across the aisle and court Democratic votes.

Some House Democrats will slam the door shut on Johnson. Others will listen, as long as what the Republicans are asking of them is deemed reasonable.

Landsman falls into the latter category.

“There are two schools of thought among Democrats in the House,’’ Landsman said. “One is to not bail out the Republicans and then run and win in 2026 when the Republicans fail.

“The other school of thought — the one I subscribe to — is that if there is an opportunity to work together on issues like keeping the government open, border security, then that’s what we should do,” Landsman said. “The point of being here is to get as many good things as we can in the time that we have.”

Landsman practiced what he preaches just last week, when he was one of 48 House Democrats to join Republicans in passing the Laken Riley Act.

The Laken Riley Act requires immigration officers to arrest and detain immigrants in the country unlawfully who are suspected of minor theft of $100 or more. State attorney generals would also have the power to sue the federal government to have specific immigrants deported back to their countries of origin.

The law is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered last year in Athens, Ga., by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant who was in the country illegally and previously had been arrested by the Border Patrol and released. Ibarra was sentenced in November to life in prison without parole.

“I voted for this because there truly is a crisis at the border; and this was an opportunity to show that government works,’’ said Landsman. “If you have entered this country illegally, you have already committed one crime. If you commit a second crime, whether it is violent or not, you’ve got to go.”

LISTEN: We talk to U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman about his party's next move

People who are seeking asylum in the U.S., escaping from countries where they constantly fear for their lives, should not be turned away, the Cincinnati congressman said.

“Asylum seekers are different,’’ Landsman said. “You don’t demonize these people who have risked their lives to get to this country. And that is exactly what the far right has done to these people.”

And, he said, while cooperation with House Republicans can often work to everyone’s advantage, there is a also a line to be drawn.

“There are real dangers in the worst impulses of the far-right Republicans,’’ Landsman said. “We have to be the firewall to protect Social Security and Medicare. There is no compromise to be had on that.”

In early January, Landsman was invited to the White House to witness President Biden signing the Social Security Fairness Act into law.

“I’m really proud to have helped make this happen,’’ Landsman said. “It was long overdue.”

Passage of the law meant that after decades of lobbying, millions of public retirees — cops, firefighters, teachers and many others — are, this month, finally receiving the full Social Security benefits they earned.

Landsman said there are about 200,000 such public retirees in Ohio.

Greg Landsman with Melissa Johnson a the White House in Jan. 2025.
Courtesy
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Greg Landsman
Greg Landsman with Melissa Johnson at the White House in Jan. 2025.

He brought Melissa Johnson, a kindergarten teacher from Warren County, to the White House for the signing ceremony.

Landsman said Johnson had approached him at a town hall meeting in Warren County, asking him what he could do to fix the Social Security system for public employees.

From the archives: Landsman, Brown join growing chorus of Democrats calling for Biden to step aside

“Melissa was with me every step of the way,’’ said Landsman, one of the leaders of the effort to get the bill to the House floor for a vote. “She’s retiring after this year; and it is really satisfying to be able to help people like her.”

Landsman, who turned 48 last month, asked for and received an appointment to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“That’s where all the big stuff will come from,’’ said Landsman. “Lowering prescription drug costs, working for an economy and a tax system that benefits everyone, not just the billionaires.

“The super-rich are just getting richer; Elon Musk is one of those billionaires who didn’t exist 20 years ago,’’ Landsman said. “Billionaires didn’t send me here. I don’t work for them.”

Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.