Ohio’s crowded Republican Senate primary is still 2 1/2 months away, but one candidate has made gains in recent weeks: businessman Mike Gibbons.
A February poll by the Trafalgar Group found Josh Mandel as an early front-runner in the primary race to replace retiring GOP Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, with the winner expected to face Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in November. But it found Gibbons at 16.4%, an increase from 11.9% in December, marking a jump from third to second place in just two months.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Gibbons argued the trajectory will continue, attributing this jump to “hard work” and “the fact that we seem to be resonating with the voters.”
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“Everybody wants to say it’s because we spend a lot of money,” Gibbons said. “You know, I started at 2% name recognition. We’ve gotten our name recognition up, but I can assure you if I wasn’t resonating with voters, my poll numbers would be a lot lower than right now.”
Gibbons argued former President Donald Trump remains popular in the state, “so I think people have not given up on the idea that a businessman should be elected.”
The investment banker is largely self-funding his own campaign, loaning himself upwards of $11 million for his race ahead of the May 3 primary.
But Gibbons chafed at the depiction of himself as a “wealthy Cleveland businessman,” arguing he came from “very meager circumstances” and “every dollar I have I earned myself.”
“I never inherited a nickel, and I’m running against a lot of people that have inherited things, and now we are treated the same way because we happen to be in the same place right now,” he said, drawing a contrast with primary rivals such as Mandel, former state treasurer; state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team; and former Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken. “But that’s why I believe in the American dream. I could never have accomplished what I’ve been able to accomplish but for this great country, and people need to hear that story. Because they could do it themselves. I have confidence in the American people.”
Gibbons called his rivals “great people” but blasted Mandel as a career politician who has “never held a minute of a job in the private sector” and some of his other rivals as inconsistent on their views of Trump and his policies.
Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the race, and the crowded field of candidates is jockeying for his support. In fact, much of the race has been driven by candidates seeking to seem like the most closely aligned with the former president. Asked if voters are looking to hear about Trump or looking to move on, Gibbons said he was and is a supporter of Trump and was his Ohio finance co-chairman in 2016.
But, he said, “I don’t focus on Trump as a person. I focus on Donald Trump’s policies. Frankly, I will give a speech and never mention his name. I am the only one that does that. I support him, but I don’t know if he’s going to run again. And we have to be ready if he does.”
Asked if he agrees with Trump’s characterization of the 2020 election as stolen, Gibbons called the election “suspicious” and that it should be “thoroughly investigated.”
“We need to know the truth,” he said. “I don’t know what the truth is.”
Trump hasn’t offered evidence of his claims, but polls indicate a majority of Republican Ohio primary voters believe his claims. Gibbons said the lingering doubt is dangerous for democracy.
“When 50% of the country feels the election is questionable, is that good for democracy?” he asked. “We need to answer those questions before we’re going to keep our democracy.”
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Gibbons expressed optimism he would continue to rise in the polls before the primary.
“I can be very, very persuasive,” he said.
