The Buckeye State’s Senate Brawl

The lack of a Trump endorsement in the Ohio GOP Senate race leaves much of the field scurrying to be king or queen of the MAGA hill.

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With little more than a month to go before the Ohio primary elections, seven Republican candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat in the state took the debate stage Monday at Central State University. 

Ostensibly, their focus was on winning voters’ hearts and minds before the fast-approaching May primary. But their focus never strayed far from another election—the 2020 presidential election. And at times, it seemed as though they were tailoring their remarks more toward a particular viewer in Mar-a-Lago.

The reason is simple: A late-in-the-game endorsement from former President Donald Trump may be enough to tip the scales in a race that no particular candidate has consistently dominated. Trump’s endorsements have not always been slam dunks, but experts say that with the current tight race, a boost from the former president may be enough to tip one of the candidates over the edge with primary voters.

Leading the polls right now in the state are investment banker and businessman Mike Gibbons and former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. Gibbons has a slight edge, in part perhaps because of a recent advertising blitz. Trailing them are former Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken, venture capitalist and author J.D. Vance, and state Sen. Matt Dolan. The other two candidates on stage, businessman Neil Patel and IT firm founder Mark Pukita, have barely made a dent in the polls.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Thanks, Harvest. We can only hope that somehow Dolan ekes out a victory.

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  2. Jim

    Only recently left Ohio- but the idea that bashing Kasich is a winning strategy is just abominable. Look at the long line of respectable Ohio Republican senators over the past 50 years- Taft, Dewine, Voinovich, Portman- NONE of them would survive this gauntlet and Ohio, and the nation, would be worse off

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    Antebellum Whig

    ye gods this is depressing

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    CynthiaW

    The men get to wear dignified clothes, and the 55-year-old woman has to show her thighs. Good gravy. It's like we're in "Barbarella"!

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      Antebellum Whig

      Barbarella was more sophisticated

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    Scarlette Tarte

    “I don’t think trying to find a legal way to overturn the election is in any way treasonous,” Gibbons retorted. "

    This is the danger of the modern Republican party. It was the danger of the Nazi's as well. The republicans don't care that you overturn the will of the people as long as you find a way to do it "legally". The nazi's had to change a few laws to make the everything they did, including the final solution, legal under their system.

    Legal does not equal right or just.

    It is time we hear more Republicans speak up against this push to "legalize" election theft. The people should be the ultimate deciders of who they want to represent them and to lead them. Not any political party. Or person.

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  6. ROBERT

    Complete silliness from totally unserious people. None deserve to serve in the Senate. This all sounds like a junior high student council election!

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    Kev_WDE

    Is “MAGA Hill” the right term in a race to the bottom?

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    rlritt

    This was nauseating. To think people kiss that fat slob's butt is odious. Do they not gave integrity. There something seriously wrong here.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    Living in a rural western part of Ohio, I've seen hardly any senate signs, and few new trump signs. Although our county went for Trump (about 75% of the vote), my sense here is that people have largely moved on. Driving into Dayton, I'm not seeing much signage. For other offices yes, but for senate, no.

    JD Vance's problem, and Josh Mandel's problem are that both appear to be grifters, not in the normal sense of the term, but in a much more pejorative manner.

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  10. Jemcmichael

    I'm voting for Dolan in May and will probably vote for him in November even if he doesn't get the nomination. I'm so tired of having to write in candidates, but here we are.

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