Former Ohio GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken announced her candidacy for the state's open Senate seat.
Timken, who took over the state GOP in 2017 and resigned earlier this month, announced her campaign on Thursday for the seat currently held by Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who said last month that he won't be seeking reelection.
Her announcement video invoked her support of former President Donald Trump and his agenda, included attacks against former GOP Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who endorsed President Biden, and warned that Republicans must stop Democrats to prevent the spread of communism.
“We can’t let America become a socialist country,” she said in the roughly two-minute video. “I’m running for the United States Senate to stand up for you. Just like when I stood next to President Trump and supported his America-first agenda.”
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“As Ohio Republican Party chairman, I cleaned house of the Kasich establishment who tried to elect Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden,” she said. “I unified the party and delivered a second, decisive Ohio win for President Trump.”
Republican Josh Mandel, the 43-year-old Marine Corps veteran and two-time Treasurer of Ohio, announced his campaign to fill Portman’s seat last week. Both he and Timken touted their allegiance to Trump.
Other potential Republican contenders include Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Rep. Bill Johnson. House Republican and Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan has said he will not run for the open seat after rumors circulated that he might.
Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and unsuccessfully challenged Nancy Pelosi with a bid to be House Speaker years prior, has teased the possibility of running for the open seat.
Though traditionally considered a swing state, Ohio has trended toward Republican candidates in recent years. Trump carried the Buckeye State in both of his presidential runs, and the GOP currently holds all six statewide executive offices. Still, Democrats, bolstered by Sen. Sherrod Brown's reelection in 2018, believe Portman's open seat provides a prime pickup opportunity for the party, which will be defending its narrow majority in the Senate in 2022.
