DELAWARE, OHIO — Republican Senate candidate Mike Gibbons told the Washington Examiner on Friday that he remains optimistic about his chances in the Republican primary despite former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of one of his rivals, author J.D. Vance.
“We haven’t changed our plans,” Gibbons said at a campaign stop in Delaware, Ohio, adjacent to a rally where Trump included Vance in the speaker line-up.
The crowded field of candidates in Ohio’s Republican primary, in which the winner will enter a general election crucial to the Republicans’ efforts to win a majority, spent much of the primary seeking Trump’s endorsement. As Trump selected Vance, who had previously been lagging in polls, the other candidates shifted their approach to the race.
“It just added a different dimension to the race,” Gibbons said. “We still think we have a trajectory.”
BLISTERING OHIO SENATE GOP PRIMARY FIGHT HITS FINAL STRETCH WITH FRESH SNIPING
Trump’s endorsement of Vance was controversial among even some of his staunchest supporters, with some pointing to critical remarks Vance made about Trump and his supporters during his 2016 campaign.
Asked how much weight he thinks Trump’s endorsement will carry with voters, Gibbons said that he likes Trump personally and had “a good conversation” with the former president about his campaign.
“But I think everybody looks at him differently,” Gibbons said. “But a lot of people, rightfully so, look at what he did with the Trump agenda, what he accomplished. They also recognized that he made a lot of bad decisions when it came to picking people. And I personally think this is one of them.”
Gibbons said he doesn’t know why Trump made the endorsement, and “we’ll see what happens.” He argued the voters of Ohio would ultimately make their decision.
The Washington Examiner spoke with several Ohio Republican voters this week who expressed discouragement with the contentious Republican primary and negative television ads. Asked how he would respond to those voters, Gibbons pointed to rival Josh Mandel’s decision to get in his face at a candidate forum.
“If you’re standing in front of 600 people, somebody gets in with the microphone, answering a question, and somebody gets up in your face, what do you do?” Gibbons asked, adding that he did not feel particularly at risk but was unsure how to respond.
“Even though I wasn’t at fault, I am still embarrassed by the fact that I was even involved,” Gibbons said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Asked about his path to success in the primary, Gibbons argued that voters are “tired of celebrities that come out of nowhere” and that he is a businessman and not a politician.
“I never even considered running for office,” he said. “I got tired of throwing things in my television set as much as those people have.”
The state’s primary is May 3.
