Rep. Tim Ryan wins Ohio Democratic Senate primary
Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan cruised to his party’s nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat Tuesday and will take on the winner of one of the most contentious and closely watched Republican primaries in the nation.
Author and venture capitalist JD Vance is seen as the GOP front-runner in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman after receiving former President Trump’s late-stage support, capping a bitter and expensive contest that, at one point, saw two candidates nearly come to blows on a debate stage. The race is seen as a critical early test of Trump’s endorsement power as the midterm primary season kicks into high gear.
Ryan was heavily favored to win his three-way Democratic primary against progressive Morgan Harper, a former consumer protection attorney, and Columbus activist and tech exec Traci Johnson. But he is expected to face an uphill battle this fall in a state that was once a political bellwether but voted for Trump twice by 8-point margins.
Ryan, a 10-term Democratic congressman who ran a failed bid for president in 2020, has tried to distance himself from the national Democratic Party ahead of what is expected to be a difficult campaign cycle for his party. Campaigning in sweatshirts and baseball caps, he has fashioned himself as a blue-collar crusader fighting for working families.
Trump-endorsed J.D. Vance wins the contentious Republican Senate primary in Ohio. Here are takeaways from the election.
“He’s passionate about fighting for the people of Ohio,” said Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who leads the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm. “The only person that Republican candidate[s] seem to care about is Donald Trump and whether or not Donald Trump will endorse them.”
Elsewhere in the state, incumbent Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appears on track to secure his party’s nomination for another term, despite backlash from conservatives over COVID-19 shutdowns and mandates.
Meanwhile, in Indiana, more than a dozen state House members are trying to hold off Republican primary challengers who want to push the Legislature further to the right.
Tuesday marks the first multistate contest of the 2022 campaign and comes the day after the leak of a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion that indicates the court is poised to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Such a decision could have a dramatic effect on the course of the midterms, when control of Congress, governors’ races and state elections offices are at stake.
The primaries also serve as a clarifying test of Trump’s influence in his party. A Vance victory would be likely to embolden Trump to keep asserting himself in primary campaigns ahead of another potential presidential run in two years. A setback, however, would raise questions about whether GOP voters are seeking a new direction.
At the Strongsville library in suburban Cleveland, 84-year-old George Clark said he voted for Vance based on Trump’s endorsement.
“I know he’s had some bad press, but I know he’s a conservative and I always vote for conservatives,” Clark said.
Joanne Mondak, 71, said she voted for state Sen. Matt Dolan, the only major candidate in the GOP primary who did not aggressively court Trump. The rest of the field, she said, are “nutcakes” who are “too much Trump.”
Trump reminded Ohio voters Tuesday of his stake in the race.
Calling into a Columbus radio show, the former president praised all the candidates seeking the Republican nomination, but said he endorsed Vance despite his past Trump criticism because he believes he is best positioned to win the seat in November.
Former President Trump uses primary endorsements to seek revenge, push election fraud lies and shape the Republican Party. How are his candidates faring?
Vance had been trailing in the polls until Trump backed the “Hillbilly Elegy” author in a contest that revolved largely around the ex-president. While the timing of Trump’s endorsement — less than three weeks before election day and as early voting was underway — may have dulled its impact, it was a major blow to former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, who had all gone to elaborate lengths to court Trump and his voters.
The race will also go down as the most expensive in state history, with more than $66 million in TV and radio spending alone, according to Columbus-based Medium Buying.
Buoyed by historical trends and Democratic President Biden’s lagging poll numbers, Republicans are optimistic about retaking the House and Senate come November. A new president’s party almost always loses in seats in subsequent midterm elections, and Republicans hope high inflation, including climbing energy prices, and lingering frustration over the COVID-19 pandemic will further boost their prospects.
Democrats, meanwhile, are banking that the GOP — with Trump’s help — will elect candidates so extreme they prove unelectable come November. An anticipated Supreme Court decision to overturn the nationwide guarantee of abortion rights could also galvanize traditional Democratic voters and some independents.
“By all rights, history tells us that the Democrats are going to lose control of the House,” said Dale Butland, a Democratic strategist in Ohio. “By all rights, we should lose control of the Senate, too. However, the only thing that could save us is if the Republicans nominate a bunch of far-right crazies that are unacceptable in a general election.”
While DeWine is strongly positioned to win a second term, he is expected to face considerable right-wing backlash for the COVID-19 public health mandates he imposed during the first year of the pandemic.
On the Democratic side, Nan Whaley, the former mayor of Dayton, is vying to become Ohio’s first woman elected governor in her race against ex-Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley. Whaley has the support of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a popular household name in Ohio and the state’s top Democrat. Cranley has the backing of feminist leader Gloria Steinem.
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