The Republican nomination for Senate in Ohio is heating up, with candidates Mike Gibbons and J.D. Vance hitting the road for competing statewide campaign swings.
Gibbons launched a statewide bus tour in the first week of the year, visiting 14 communities in a custom blue and yellow bus emblazoned with “Gibbons U.S. Senate.” On Tuesday, Gibbons was in Dublin, near the state capital of Columbus in central Ohio, and on Friday, he is scheduled to be in Maineville, a village northeast of Cincinnati, for a rally with Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Gibbons plans to continue crisscrossing Ohio at least through mid-February.
Vance is joining him.
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The first-time candidate announced Tuesday he would hold town hall meetings in 13 cities in six consecutive days, beginning Thursday. Vance plans to bring his “No B.S. Tour” to Dayton, Ottawa, Toledo, Independence, Delaware, Middletown, Lebanon, Cincinnati (twice), Grove City, Austintown, Woodsfield, Marietta, and Portsmouth. All are key microbattlegrounds in Republican primaries.
“The #NoBSTour is about being honest with Ohioans and answering all of their questions directly,” Vance said in a Twitter post. “They deserve no less, and I’m excited to kick off this statewide tour.”
More than a half-dozen Republicans are vying to succeed GOP Sen. Rob Portman, who is retiring this year after two terms, including state Sen. Matt Dolan, former state treasurer and 2012 Senate nominee Josh Mandel, businessman Bernie Moreno, and former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken. The primary is on May 3, and the competition for the nomination is accelerating.
On Friday, the Timken campaign publicized an internal poll showing her in a virtual tie with Mandel. In the Jan. 3 survey from Moore Information Group, Mandel led with 18%, followed by Timken at 16%. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The Club for Growth, a conservative advocacy group backing Mandel, responded immediately with a poll of its own showing the former treasurer well out in front with 26%, followed by Timken and Gibbons in a virtual tie for second, at 15% and 14%, respectively. The survey, conducted by WPA Intelligence between Jan. 3 and Jan. 6, had an error margin of 4.4 points.
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In a press release, the Gibbons campaign essentially mocked both Mandel and Timken.
“What Timken’s own numbers show is that Mike Gibbons’s support continues on a steady upward path, while other contenders slip, slide, and bounce around,” the missive read.
