Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel was reportedly asked to leave the Republican National Committee’s donor summit on Friday.
Mandel, former treasurer of Ohio, was escorted away from the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, Florida, while primary opponent Jane Timken, who recently served as Ohio Republican Party chairwoman, was allowed to stay, two sources with direct knowledge told Axios. While Timken was invited to the event “because she is a major donor,” according to one of the sources, Mandel was not on the list, so he was asked to leave. He reportedly appeared at the retreat in an effort to court major Republican donors, one source said.
FORMER OHIO GOP CHAIRWOMAN JANE TIMKEN ANNOUNCES BID FOR OPEN SENATE SEAT
Representatives for Mandel, Timken, and the RNC did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment.
The weekend retreat attracted headlines after a roughly 50-minute speech by former President Donald Trump before RNC donors at his Mar-a-Lago club Saturday night, during which he reportedly went after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“If that were Schumer instead of this dumb son of a b—- Mitch McConnell, they would never allow it to happen. They would have fought it,” he said, referring to the certification of electoral votes on Jan. 6 that acknowledged President Joe Biden‘s victory, according to multiple reports.
Timken and Mandel are among the handful of candidates vying for the Republican nomination to replace outgoing Sen. Rob Portman in 2022. Businessman Bernie Moreno announced his candidacy, and others, including Ohio’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose and author J.D. Vance, are contemplating entering the race.
On the Democratic side, Rep. Tim Ryan has publicly expressed interest in a potential run, and Rep. Joyce Beatty and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley are also reportedly considering running for the seat.
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The Ohio Senate race is expected to be among the most expensive of the 2022 election cycle. While the state has been trending toward Republicans in recent years, the reelection of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2018 has given Democrats hope that they can flip Portman’s seat next year.
