Civil Justice, the Judiciary Committee for Criminal Justice, and the Controlling Board. U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2008 In November 2007, Stivers announced he would run for election to Congress in Ohio's 15th District, a seat held by retiring Republican member Deborah Pryce. He won the Republican nomination and ran against Democratic Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy, who had nearly unseated Pryce in 2006, Libertarian Mark Noble and Independent Don Elijah Eckhart. Stivers lost by 2,311 votes, conceding on December 7, 2008, after a long vote recount. 2010 Stivers won the Republican primary with 82% of the vote. He again faced Democratic incumbent Mary Jo Kilroy along with Constitution Party nominee David Ryon and Libertarian nominee William J. Kammerer. On November 2, 2010, Kilroy conceded to Stivers, who won by a 54% to 42% margin. 2012 Redistricting after the 2010 census made the 15th much friendlier to Stivers. During his first term, he represented a fairly compact district covering all of Union and Madison counties, as well as most of downtown and western Columbus. The new map, however, pushed the 15th into more rural and exurban territory south and west of the capital. Stivers ran again in 2012 against Democratic nominee Pat Lang. He was endorsed by the NRA, National Right to Life, Ohio State Medical Association and United States Chamber of Commerce. Stivers was re-elected by 76,397 votes. 2014 Stivers ran in 2014 against Democratic Scott Wharton. Gaining more than 66 percent of the vote, he was reelected for a third term. 2016 Stivers ran in 2016 against Democrat Scott Wharton for the OH-15 seat. Winning 66.2% (222,847) of the vote to Wharton's 33.8% (113,960). Tenure The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy ranked Stivers as the 36th and 37th most bipartisan member of the U.S. House during the 114th (2015–17) and 115th Congresses. His resignation triggered a special election in 2021 which was won by fellow republican Mike Carey. Budget, taxation, and other economic issues Stivers has voted against raising the debt limit when there was no offset or systemic reform and supports prioritizing spending in the event that the debt limit is reached. Stiver voted in favor of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Stivers voted to offset the costs of disaster relief spending through discretionary budget cuts. Stivers took a pledge to not support any tax raises. He voted in