Another GOP running for Portman’s Senate Seat in Ohio

 

Andrew J. Tobias at cleveland.com reports:

Republican Ohio Sen. Matt Dolan has changed his campaign materials from saying he’s exploring running for the U.S. Senate to actually doing it..

. . .

Dolan would enter a crowded field of five other well-funded, established contenders, including three from Cuyahoga County, plus several more lower-profile candidates. Dolan would be unique as the only candidate to have created daylight between himself and former President Donald Trump, who continues to hold a dominating presence over Republican politics despite losing the November election. Following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, Dolan tweeted that the event was a “failure of leadership starting with @realdonaldtrump.”

He’s just lost me.

“Too many so called leaders perpetuated lies about the outcome of the November 2020 election. And the people who trust their leadership believes them. Real leaders lead not manipulate. Truth matters,” Dolan said in the January tweet.

. . .

Only one other Republican candidate, former state treasurer Josh Mandel, has previously held office. Three higher-profile candidates -- author and venture capitalist JD Vance, former Ohio Republican Party chairman Jane Timken and car dealer Bernie Moreno -- are first-time candidates. And Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons has never held office, but ran and lost in the 2018 U.S. Senate primary.

The field may be crowded, but the declared candidates are mostly wannabees who pretend to be Trump supporters.  So far, I am still looking at Mike Gibbons.  It is too bad he does not have better name recognition.

Full article by Tobias is here.

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Josh Mandel or Mike Gibbons for U.S. Senate ?

 

This blog previously reported on two candidates for the U.S. Senate, Jane Timken and Josh Mandel – to replace retiring RINO Rob Portman.  Both campaigns are attempting to run on President Trump’s coat-tails.  This was the envelope containing the first solicitation from Mandel's campaign a month or two ago:

Apparently the Mandel campaign has now backed off, as Mr. Trump’s name does not appear in his most recent solicitation, which our household received last week. But instead of having Trump’s name (and implied endorsement) on the envelope, look at what’s at the top of his letterhead:

"America First" appears prominently --  twice -- on President Trump’s office website here. 

Some Ohio liberty groups are endorsing Mandel. Cleveland Tea Party traditionally does not state a preference until after the primary, but prior to the primary, we would not support Mr. Mandel’s candidacy; see also here. We’re still looking at Mike Gibbons.

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Josh Mandel's Senate campaign: not a good look

 

American Greatness has the update:

More Trouble For Josh Mandel:
Fundraising Staff Quits Over “Toxic Environment”
Created By Staffer Mandel Is Dating 

As the Republican senate primary in Ohio heats up, there’s more trouble for candidate Josh Mandel. Several women working on his campaign fundraising team have quit citing a “toxic environment” created by the fundraising director Rachel Wilson. Campaign manager, Scott Guthrie, says that the Mandel and Wilson have been dating since August, 2020.

Mandel is still fielding awkward questions arising from a messy divorce last year. The divorce was settled some time in 2020 (Mandel had the record sealed by the court) so it’s unclear if Mandel was dating Wilson while he was still married to his former wife, Ilana Shafran Mandel. Either way, women on his finance staff say that working for his girlfriend was untenable.

. . .

The report concludes:

Mandel’s base of support has been with social conservatives especially in northeast Ohio around Cleveland. Many have already had enough and have aligned with other candidates. The combination of a rolling series of personal problems – many believe that the problems that led to his divorce were behind him dropping out of the senate race in 2018 – and fundraising staff leaving en masse only complicate matters for Mandel in a competitive race.

Full report is here.  This blog has previously posted on Mr. Mandel and candidates Jane Timken and Mike Gibbons, here, here, and here.

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RINO alert: Ohio candidates for Senate claim Trump endorsement

 

Matthew Boyle reports at Breitbart:

‘People Close to the President Are Not Happy’:
Trump Team Fuming as Ohio’s Jane Timken Website
Appears to Falsely Claim Endorsement

Ohio Senate candidate Jane Timken had a photograph on her website’s “endorsements” page of her with former President Donald Trump, something an aide for the former president told Breitbart News displeases his team.

The photograph, which first received public attention from Timken’s website on Friday, made it appear as though she was claiming Trump’s endorsement — which she does not have. After a number of the other GOP campaigns for U.S. Senate in Ohio flagged it to Trump and his inner circle on Friday morning, Timken removed the photograph from her website.

. . .

The Ohio GOP Senate primary in the race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is a crowded one. In addition to Timken, the former chairwoman of the Ohio GOP, other declared and likely candidates include former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, businessman Bernie Moreno, Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, businessman Mike Gibbons, and more. Virtually all of them are vying for Trump’s endorsement in the state he won twice in the general election and in which he remains popular.

Lots more here.  It's not just Ms. Timken. Our household received a campaign mailer from candidate Josh Mandel, such as the one Breitbart published:

These attempts to claim President Trump’s endorsement and support are alienating some Ohio conservative voters.  No more RINOs!

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Mike Gibbons for Ohio

 

Our household just received a campaign letter from Mike Gibbons.  It’s 5 pages long, and here’s the text of the first page:

My name is Mike Gibbons, and last week I launched my campaign for United States Senate.

I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. Frankly, too much of politics these days is 30-second television commercials and canned sound bites. However, this election is far too important.

The first thing you need to know about me is that I'm not a politician. I'm a businessman. (Frankly, I don't even like politicians.)

But I need to warn you: I'm blunt. I tell it like it is. That might get me into trouble now and then, but that's who I am, how I'm going to campaign, and how I'll be if you elect me.

I grew up in Parma, a working-class suburb of Cleveland. My father was a high school teacher and a wrestling coach. My grandfather was president of the laborers' union.

I went to work at an early age. I had a paper route. I worked a bandsaw on the factory floor. I poured concrete.

Sometimes people hear "Cleveland businessman" and make assumptions. Well, you might as well say, "concrete Finisher," because I've done plenty of that as well. I guarantee you that I'll be the only Senator who can finish your driveway.

I started my own company at the age of 37, working alone with a desk and a phone in a small space above a dentist's office.

Today, I've achieved success beyond my wildest imagination. I've achieved my American dream.

I'm running for Senate because I want to help more people achieve their American Dreams.

On the 5^th page, he closes:

More than anything, however, I hope this is the beginning of a conversation between concerned Ohioans.  It’s a job interview, and I hope to earn your support and your vote.

Sincerely,

Mike Gibbons

Letter is paid for by Gibbons For Ohio:  https://www.gibbonsforohio.com/ 

CTP previously blogged on the Ohio Senate race in March and April.  Some liberty groups in Ohio are supporting Josh Mandel; as I wrote in the linked April blog, it would be nice if Ohio did not replace RINO Portman with another establishment GOP – such as Josh Mandel or Jane Timken.  So far, Mr. Gibbons is looking good.

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Peter Skurkiss on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (RINO-Ohio) (with UPDATE)

 

Peter Skurkiss at American Thinker asks whether “anti-Trump RINO Rep. Anthony Gonzalez [can] survive a primary challenge?”  Gonzalez represents Ohio's 16th congressional district, which includes part of Northeast Ohio including Wayne County and parts of Cuyahoga, Medina, Summit, Portage and Stark Counties.  Mr. Skurkiss begins:

You may recall that Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (RINO-Ohio) is one of ten Republican House members who voted to impeach President Trump after he left office on the bogus charge that he had incited the riot in the nation's capital on January 6.  For this, Gonzalez was formally censured in early May by the Ohio Republican Party and asked to resign.

Far from being chastised, Gonzalez continued his vendetta against Trump and by extension MAGA supporters.  He next voted for the Democrat resolution to establish a commission to investigate the January 6 fracas.  Nancy Pelosi, chief proponent of the commission, says the commission will be "independent and bipartisan."  Who in his right mind could believe Pelosi on this?  Was there anything remotely fair or honest in the way Pelosi's House of Representatives held its two Trump impeachment trials? 

In reality, the January 6 commission will function as a red herring designed to advance the Democrat agenda going into the 2022 election.  The commission will be to focus media attention on the false Democrat argument that the events on January 6 constituted an insurrection.  By any objective standard, it did not.  All the ensuing kabuki theatrics will be a replay of the Russian collusion hoax, with the corporate media aggressively pushing the Democrat agenda.  This will be done with the intent to take the spotlight off the mounting failures of the Harris/Biden administration.  And for this, Gonzalez voted "yes."

It is interesting to hear Gonzalez's spurious argument as to why he shouldn't be purged from the Republican Party or primaried.  It's the usual trite blather: we need to be a big tent party; we can't chase voters away; dissent is healthy.  There is some truth in all those sayings, but they miss the point.  Gonzalez conflates his treason to the GOP with legitimate dissent.  Nobody would have thought ill of Benedict Arnold if he had merely disagreed with George Washington on tactics or strategy.  But Arnold went beyond the pale.  He gave aid and comfort to the enemy, just as Anthony Gonzalez has done.  Gonzalez seemingly lacks the wisdom to heed the words of Abraham Lincoln ("a house divide cannot stand") or Jesus (Mark 3:25: "and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand").

Gonzalez is in survival mode.  He's throwing self-serving excuses around in the hope that some might stick.  Just as likely, he's also auditioning for a lucrative post-political career in the arms of those who first recruited him to come back to Ohio from California to run for office.  Gonzalez is angling to be the poster body purged by the narrow, mean-spirited Republican Party.  His big-money backers will lap that up. 

Skurkiss closes with a comparison to Jane Timken’s candidacy for Portman’s Senate seat in the 2022 election:

As to Gonzalez's vote to impeach President Trump, Timken was initially soft on Gonzalez.  . . .  But now that [Josh] Mandel, a MAGA man, has sharply criticized Timken for supporting Gonzalez, she has abruptly changed her tune.  She now is reported to favor Gonzalez out of office.  Some profile in courage that Timken is.  . . .

Anthony Gonzalez and Jane Timken typify all that is wrong with the established Republican Party.  The sooner they and their ilk are driven from power, the stronger and better the party will be.  To be a big tent party does not require that back-stabbers be tolerated.

That’s most of Mr. Skurkiss’s article, but click here for the entire article.

Update from David M. Drucker at the Washington Examiner:

Republican Max Miller is poised to ride an endorsement from Donald Trump to victory over Rep. Anthony Gonzalez in a GOP primary in Ohio, a contest unfolding as a clear test of the former president’s influence with grassroots conservatives.

Miller, a 32-year-old former Trump White House aide, was endorsed by the former president soon after announcing for the Cleveland-area 16th Congressional District. Trump was intent on getting revenge on Gonzalez, a second-term congressman among the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach him in the waning days of his administration for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s swift endorsement of Miller has, so far, kept other Republicans who might want to challenge Gonzalez, 36, out of the race. Party insiders are skeptical that will change, setting up a one-on-one contest between pro-Trump and anti-Trump candidates on track to reveal how much punch the former president has in GOP primaries post-White House.

More here.

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Mike Gibbons will run for Portman's Senate seat

 

Earlier this week, Cleveland.com published Seth A. Richardson’s story about Mike Gibbons, who is running for Rob Portman’s Senate seat.  It begins:

Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland investment banker and real estate developer, announced Tuesday he would again run for Senate after unsuccessfully pursuing the office in 2018.

Gibbons becomes the fourth Republican to officially enter the 2022 race to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican who announced in January he wouldn’t seek a third term. Gibbons has never held elected office, but ran for Senate in 2018 in an attempt to challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, losing in the primary to Republican President Donald Trump’s hand-picked choice, then-Rep. Jim Renacci.

“I’m running for Senate because we need to get our economy back on track,” Gibbons said in a statement. “We need to rein in runaway federal spending. We need to secure our borders, stand for life, and defend our 2nd Amendment rights.”

Gibbons, a Cleveland native who grew up in Parma, is the senior managing director of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, a Cleveland investment firm. He’s been active serving on boards in the community as well as in Ohio Republican politics, including as Ohio finance co-chair for Trump’s 2016 campaign.

. . .

Read the rest here.  It would be nice if Ohio did not replace RINO Portman with another establishment GOP – such as Josh Mandel or Jane Timken. 

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Trump’s meeting with four Ohio GOP Senate candidates

 

John L. Dorman at Yahoo News reports:

• Trump had an "Apprentice"-like meeting with four Ohio GOP Senate candidates.
• The candidates all did their best to prove their loyalty to the former president.
• A potential endorsement from Trump could give a candidate an enormous edge among GOP voters.

Former President Donald Trump may be far from his old New York boardroom, but on Wednesday he gave four Ohio GOP Senate candidates the type of grilling famously depicted on his long-running reality television series "The Apprentice," according to Politico.

Before a fundraiser at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Trump had the candidates - former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken, investment banker Mike Gibbons, and businessman Bernie Moreno - sit together for a backroom meeting.

The four Republicans are set to run for Ohio's open Senate seat in 2022, which will be vacated by two-term GOP Sen. Rob Portman at the end of his term.

The candidates were all in Florida to attend the event for Max Miller, a Trump-backed candidate who is seeking to unseat GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez in a primary and win the general election in Ohio's heavily-Republican 16th Congressional District.

RELATED:  Via Breitbart: Exclusive — China Outsourcing from the Timken Company Complicates Jane Timken’s Senate Bid in Ohio

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