U.S. Congressman Bill Johnson shook up the sixth congressional district when he announced he would be stepping down from his seat as the representative of Ohio's Sixth Congressional District to be Youngstown State University's next president.

Now, not only is there a race to fill his vacated seat and unexpired term, there is also a race for the Sixth Congressional District's next term which begins in 2025.

On both ballots, five people are running to not only replace Johnson, but also fill the next term.

This means that while one of the candidates could lose the race to fulfill the unexpired term, they may win the race for the upcoming term.

On the ballot, three Republicans and two Democrats are running for both races. Below is a look at who they are and what issues they're running on.

Republicans:

State Senator Michael Rulli - Rulli is serving his second term in the Ohio Senate representing the 33rd Senate District which covers Mahoning, Columbiana and Caroll counties. He previously served on the Leetonia School Board as the president.

Rulli has been a staunch advocate for former President Donald Trump and Republican talking points like banning gender-affirming care for minors. He voted to override Governor Mike DeWine's veto of the bill last year, claiming to have stood up for children in his district.

He also opposed the Ohio constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the state, which was overwhelmingly approved by Ohio voters last November.

Some of the issues he plans to run on are revamping election security after former President Donald Trump's repeatedly false claims it was stolen from him in 2020, expanding natural gas and oil efforts in the district while lowering gas prices and protecting the right to own firearms.

He also recently signed a pledge to limit congressional terms if he's elected to the Sixth Congressional District. 

You can see a full list of the issues he supports here.

State Representative Reggie Stoltzfus - Stark County native Stoltzfus has been an Ohio State Representative for the state's 50th district since 2019. He currently chairs the Ohio House Infrastructure Committee.

Stoltzfus is positioning himself as the "Trump candidate" between him and Senator Rulli. Like Rulli, Stoltzfus voted to override Gov. DeWine's veto on HB 68, banning gender-affirming care for minors, of which he authored the Save Women's Sports Act, which was included in that bill. He called DeWine a Republican in Name Only for his veto. He has also sponsored bills regarding gender identity and regulations on bathroom usage in schools. 

He also wrote a bill making June 14 "Trump Day" in Ohio. June 14 is the former president's birthday.

Some of the issues Stoltzfus is running on is cutting government spending, southern border security, reversing and preventing laws protecting a woman's right to choose what she does with her body and being a strong advocate for Trump. You can see all of the issues he's running on here.

Dr. Rick Tsai - Tsai (pronounced Chai) is the only republican candidate for this position that is not currently serving as a senator or representative. He currently works as a chiropractor for more than 30 years in Mahoning Valley.

The East Palestine resident says he was inspired to run for office after what he calls the Environmental Protection Agency's "inept mismanagement" of the train derailment that happened a year ago. 

Like the other republicans running for this seat, Tsai is against gender-affirming care and wants to ban sex-change surgeries for anyone under the age of 18 as well as punish doctors participating in sex-change operations on minors. He's also in favor of preventing transgender females from participating in female's sports.

He's also in favor of term limits like Rulli.

Some of the other issues he's running on include making unpasteurized milk legal in Ohio, lower health insurance deductibles and insurance reform and implementing mental health and treatment facilities for drug and alcohol addition.

A full list of the issues he's running can be viewed here.

Democrats

Michael Kripchak - Kripchak is a United States Airforce Veteran and Youngstown native. He graduated Valedictorian from Chaney Highschool in 2000. He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and later the Santa Monica College in arts and business and eventually New York University. 

He later started a company that specialized in signal location tracking including work with aerial drones, however when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the start up folded.

Kripchak says he got into the race to because he wants to restore the American Dream and reduce the wealth gap in the country.

Some of the issues he's running on include creating an advanced materials manufacturing hub in the Ohio River Valley to create jobs, a nationwide standard for education controlled by educators and investing in scientific innovations of sustainable farming practices and lifting IP restrictions on reseeding.

His full platform can be viewed here.

Rylan Finzer - Finzer is a Bedford Heights native, outside the sixth district. The son of a Navy Veteran, Finzer is the owner of Finzer's Finest, a marijuana dispensary in Bedford Heights. He was also the former president of the Stark County Young Democrats.

21 News has reached out to Finzer multiple times for more information on his platform and why he's running for Johnson's former seat. We will update the story when that information becomes available.