Republican rivals to J.D. Vance have embarked on a last-ditch effort to stave off an endorsement from Donald Trump in Ohio’s Senate primary, a response prompted by swirling speculation that the former president is close to backing Vance in the contentious race.
Trump has so far stayed out of the primary, even as early voting has already begun ahead of the May 3 election. But his endorsement could dramatically shift the margins in the crowded field of candidates, where no one in the five-way race has taken a commanding lead.
With an eye toward influencing Trump’s inner circle, on Thursday morning, Remington Research, a polling firm connected to former state treasurer Josh Mandel’s campaign, began circulating to top Republicans a polling memo arguing that a Trump endorsement of Vance would fail to vault Vance into serious contention.
“JD Vance will still lose even with President Trump’s endorsement. JD Vance is widely known by Republican Primary voters for his Never-Trumper comments and his calling Trump supporters ‘racists,’” Titus Bond, the Remington Research Group president, wrote in the memo. “Since he is already known to Ohioans as a self-proclaimed ‘Never Trumper’ and voters will forcefully be reminded of that, Vance will still lose even with President Trump’s endorsement.”
According to the memo, even with a Trump endorsement, Vance would only be in fourth place with 15 percent.
A collection of more than three dozen county GOP chairs and state party central committee members — including some from the state’s most populous counties — also banded together to sign a letter urging Trump not to endorse Vance, noting that he “referred to your supporters as ‘racists’ and proudly voted for Evan McMullin in 2016.”
“While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again,”
they wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO, “JD Vance was actively working against your candidacy.”
Lisa Stickan, the chair of the Cuyahoga County GOP, said a group of county Republican chairs and state central committee members came up with the letter on Thursday after
NBC reported that Trump plans to endorse Vance.
“It’s so late in the game and to come out with an endorsement now serves no purpose in helping the party,” she said.
Trump also heard recently from Club for Growth President David McIntosh — a Mandel supporter — who traveled with Trump over the weekend to a North Carolina rally. Trump has told people that, during the trip, McIntosh tried to sway him from endorsing Vance, according to one person with knowledge of Trump’s remarks. The Club did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump on Wednesday announced he will hold a rally next weekend outside of Columbus, further fueling the impression that he intends to take a position in the Senate race. The contest is one of the year’s most expensive Senate primaries so far, generating $55 million in television ad spending.
Trump’s decision recently narrowed down to Vance and Mandel, according to a person close to the former president. Mandel, who ran for Senate in 2018 before dropping out of the race, has consistently led in polling throughout the GOP primary. Investment banker Mike Gibbons “is not on his radar,” the person said, and Trump has written off backing Jane Timken, who he endorsed in 2017 in her successful race for Ohio Republican Party chair.