The super PAC supporting Ohio Republican Senate contender Josh Mandel is targeting primary opponent Jane Timken with an advertisement set to air during the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
USA Freedom Fund planned Friday to air a spot attacking Timken, a former Ohio Republican Party chairwoman, in the Cleveland and Columbus media markets. The move is an apparent response to her gain in the polls against Mandel, the former Ohio treasurer who leads the race for the GOP Senate nomination in most surveys. The spot accuses a business owned by Timken’s family of outsourcing Ohio jobs to China, which is hosting the 24th Winter Olympics.
“Competition is good if the playing field’s level. Jane Timken’s family business rigged the game against U.S. workers,” the ad’s voice-over says. The spot charges that the Timken family firm shipped thousands of jobs to China, as well as India and Mexico, while supporting Democratic congressional candidates through its corporate political action committee.
USA Freedom Fund is spending a minuscule $23,700 to run the advertisement, set to run during opening ceremonies of the Winter Games in Beijing, according to details the super PAC shared with the Washington Examiner on Thursday. But the investment suggests some anxiety about the competition from Timken among pro-Mandel forces 90 days before Republican voters head to the polls to nominate a successor to retiring Sen. Rob Portman.
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The primary is a crowded affair, with half a dozen Republicans vying to succeed Portman, including state Sen. Matt Dolan, who has dumped $10 million of his own money into his campaign; wealthy businessman Jim Gibbons, who also is self-funding; businessman Bernie Moreno; and author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance, who has the backing of his old boss, GOP megadonor Peter Thiel.
Polling from a variety of sources that was conducted in January saw Mandel in front, although Gibbons led the former Ohio treasurer 16% to 12.8% in a survey conducted Jan. 28-30 for his campaign, followed by Vance at 9.5% and Timken at 7.8%.
In a Timken campaign poll from last month, Mandel led the field with 18%, followed by Timken at 16%, Gibbons at 14%, Moreno at 9%, Vance at 8%, and Dolan at 4%. In another January poll, this time for conservative advocacy group Club for Growth, which is backing Mandel, Timken trailed Mandel, 26% to 15%, followed by Gibbons at 14%, Vance at 10%, and Moreno at 7%.
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In a third January poll, from the Moreno campaign, Mandel led Timken, 19.8% to 18.1%, followed by Moreno at 10.2%, Gibbons at 9.7%, Vance at 9.5%, and Dolan at 3.3%.
