With a little more than two months before the filing deadline for the March 2024 primary and a safe Republican district, U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson has no opponents.

Johnson, R-Marietta, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010. He is running next year for his eighth, two-year term in the 6th Congressional District, which includes all of Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Jefferson, Belmont, Harrison, Monroe, Noble and Washington counties and portions of Stark and Tuscarawas counties.

Mahoning is the most-populous county in the district.

Dec. 20 is the filing deadline for the March 19 partisan primaries. The independent candidate deadline is the day before the primaries.

Johnson had $1,236,679 in his campaign fund as of June 30.

Matt Dole, Johnson’s campaign adviser, said: “His ability to get things done as evidenced by having more than 20 pieces of legislation signed into law by presidents of both parties should give pause to potential Democrat opponents, especially those who think voters will respond positively to a platform supporting Joe Biden’s out of touch policies like open borders and Bidenomics.”

Louis Lyras of Campbell, who was the Democratic nominee during the 2022 election, loaned $1,823 to his campaign fund in the first six months of this year and gave $73,000 in 2022 to his campaign including $17,500 after losing the general election.

Lyras said he was mulling a possible rematch, but “more than likely” he won’t challenge Johnson.

“Right now, truthfully, I don’t think so,” Lyras said. “It’s a tough road.”

Lyras said he has several work commitments that are taking up much of his time, including being co-owner of Penguin City Brewing Co. in Youngstown.

Lyras said one reason he doesn’t plan to run is the congressional districts drawn last year — and ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court — went unchallenged this year. The state court a month ago agreed to dismiss the lawsuits over the congressional districts at the requests of those who filed them.

Johnson beat Lyras 67.7 percent to 32.3 percent in last year’s congressional election.

The 6th District had an 18 percent advantage for Republicans based on voting trends in partisan statewide elections between 2012 and 2020 and that only increased after a strong 2022 by statewide Republicans.

Lyras ran in 2020 as a Republican in the former 13th Congressional District, finishing second out of seven candidates with 11.9 percent of the vote. He filed nominating petitions as an independent candidate in that same district in 2018, but failed to make the general election ballot.

He has loaned a total of $227,723 to his campaigns since 2018 and the campaign has $11,631 in outstanding debt to him, according to his latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.

Mahoning County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Anderson said he’s had conversations with a few potential candidates, but no one is ready to announce a challenge to Johnson.

“It’s not an easy district to win,” Anderson said. “It’s a gerrymandered district drawn for Bill Johnson to win. Given the chaos and dysfunction in Washington, it’s good to remember that what’s happening locally is important. People want to make a meaningful difference and you can’t go to Washington when the opposing party can’t even find a speaker.”

He added: “We’re always interested in talking to people, but it’s not easy when politicians draw their own districts.”

Johnson went from the most Republican district in the state to one less red with the 2022 redistricting.

Also, William Farms of Jewett filed a statement of organization on Sept. 22 with the FEC to run for the seat as an independent.

But Farms said Friday he wasn’t going to run for the congressional position.

Farms also filed statements of organization with the FEC on May 5 to run for president as an independent and then on June 3 to run for president as a Democrat. He said he doesn’t plan to run for president.

Farms reported raising no money for the presidential campaigns and isn’t required to submit a report to the FEC for the abandoned congressional effort.

“I’m crippled and that’s one of the reasons I’m not running for Congress or president,” he said. “I’m not going to be in shape in time.”

Instead, Farms said he wants to be appointed director of the FBI, saying he took an Army intelligence course in 1977 and has “Nobel Prize-winning ideas.”

Farms, who has never run for elected office, said the U.S. Air Force has exposed him to unidentified flying objects and that Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity is incorrect.

“The biggest conspiracy theory is saying there are no conspiracy theories,” Farms said.