{"id":1454376,"date":"2022-04-26T13:59:44","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T17:59:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1454376"},"modified":"2022-04-26T13:59:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T17:59:48","slug":"how-the-ohio-senate-primary-will-test-trumps-relevance-in-the-gop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-ohio-senate-primary-will-test-trumps-relevance-in-the-gop\/","title":{"rendered":"How The Ohio Senate Primary Will Test Trump\u2019s Relevance In The GOP\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-ohio-senate-primary-will-test-trumps-relevance-in-the-gop%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1454376&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/Ohio-scaled.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance may be on the verge of an upset victory in Ohio\u2019s Republican primary to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman (R).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the final weeks of the campaign, Vance received a shot of energy and a cash infusion of about $5 million after former President Donald Trump endorsed the author of \u201cHillbilly Elegy\u201d on Good Friday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For most of the race, Vance was a solid, if distant, third-place runner in the primary, but new <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndrewJTobias\/status\/1517113661051097088\"><span>polling<\/span><\/a><span> \u2014 albeit, from a pro-Vance super PAC \u2014 now shows him with a sizable lead over former Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel, who had been leading the pack in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For most of the campaign, Mandel dueled businessman Mike Gibbons for the title of frontrunner. Vance overtook Gibbons for second place following a particularly heated <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/03\/18\/ohio-gop-senate-debate-gibbons-mandel-fight-00018678\"><span>exchange<\/span><\/a><span> at a March debate in which Mandel and Gibbons stood chest to chest and appeared to threaten one another. Afterward, accusations <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/josh-mandel-mike-gibbons-ohio-senate-republican-heated-exchange_n_623511dae4b0d39357c7faaa\"><span>flew<\/span><\/a><span> between both campaigns over which candidate called the other a \u201cp****\u201d on stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gibbons\u2019s public support plummeted eight points in the next independent poll while Mandel and Vance both enjoyed what was then their best polling of the race.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Though Vance did enjoy a surge following the dust-up between his opponents, his odds at winning still seemed like a long shot. That is, until Trump endorsed him on Good Friday, slighting Mandel, the candidate who has arguably done the most public campaigning for Trump\u2019s support during the race. Mandel\u2019s campaign<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joshmandel.com\/\"> <span>website<\/span><\/a><span> still leads with the three pillars of \u201cpro-God,\u201d \u201cpro-gun,\u201d and \u201cpro-Trump.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The May 3 primary is this election cycle\u2019s earliest Senate contest and will test the weight of\u00a0 the former president\u2019s brand and the weight of his voice in the Republican Party. Trump\u2019s pick of the underdog Vance, though risking a greater embarrassment, could also signal a greater projection of influence depending on the outcome of the primary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Like Mandel, Vance jockeyed for Trump\u2019s support during the campaign. But unlike his opponent, the \u201cHillbilly Elegy\u201d author was a forceful critic of the former president in 2016 and early in the Trump Presidency. Vance\u2019s past comments on Trump ranged from calling the ex-president an \u201cidiot\u201d in a tweet, to referring to him as \u201cAmerica\u2019s Hitler\u201d in a text to a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But the two men appeared to put the past behind them at a rally over the weekend, with Trump forgiving the \u201cbad s***\u201d Vance said about him and Vance admitting he was wrong. \u201cI wasn\u2019t always nice, but the simple fact is, he\u2019s the best president of my lifetime,\u201d Vance<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/news\/campaign\/3461193-trump-stumps-for-vance-while-acknowledging-he-said-some-bad-sh-about-me\/\"> <span>told<\/span><\/a><span> the crowd about Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to reports, Vance won the courtship for Trump\u2019s endorsement with help from two powerful allies: Trump\u2019s son Donald Trump Jr. and Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>Trump Jr. had appeared with Vance at fundraisers prior to his father\u2019s endorsement and appeared personally close to the candidate. Now with his father\u2019s blessing, Trump Jr. is joining Vance on a barnstorming tour of Ohio in the final days of the campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>Vance has long been one of Thiel\u2019s favorite emerging politicians, and the billionaire investor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/04\/22\/vance-ohio-senate-00027183\"><span>pumped<\/span><\/a><span> $3.5 million more into a pro-Vance super PAC, Protect Ohio Values, following Trump\u2019s endorsement. Thiel was an early backer of Vance, helping launch his run last year with a $10 million initial cash infusion into Protect Ohio Values.<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mandel, while continuing to stump, insists that he and his campaign will be the victors on May 3. In an expression of his Trumpian bonafides, the former Ohio official has been traveling with former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who endorsed Mandel and called Trump\u2019s endorsement of Vance a \u201cmistake\u201d by the former president.<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mandel is also bringing Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) along with him to campaign in the final days of the race. Cruz was one of Trump\u2019s most competitive primary opponents in 2016 and later became one of the former president\u2019s allies. The Texas senator<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.joshmandel.com\/news\/senator-ted-cruz-endorses-josh-mandel-for-us-senate\"> <span>endorsed<\/span><\/a><span> Mandel in early April, calling the Ohio republican \u201ca proven fighter for our American way of life, a champion for the unborn, and a stalwart advocate for our religious liberties.\u201d<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Mandel was<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/jd-vance-josh-mandel-donald-trump-ohio-senate-primary_n_62633360e4b0d077486014b1\"> <span>questioned<\/span><\/a><span> on the campaign trail last week about why he thought he failed at securing Trump\u2019s backing. \u201cI\u2019m confident we\u2019re going to win this primary May 3, and I look forward to working with President Trump to beat the Democrats in November,\u201d he said. He gave the same answer when asked if he\u2019s seen any data showing him trouncing Vance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gibbons is also publicly optimistic about his chances. \u201cWe haven\u2019t changed our plans,\u201d Gibbons told<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/mike-gibbons-optimistic-after-trump-endorses-rival-we-havent-changed-our-plans\"> <span>The Washington Examiner<\/span><\/a><span> last week. \u201cIt just added a different dimension to the race. \u2026 We still think we have a trajectory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance may be on the verge of an upset victory in Ohio\u2019s Republican primary to replace retiring Senator Rob Portman (R).In the final weeks of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":1480561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1454376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1454376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1454376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1454376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1454376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1454376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}