Tomorrow is Election Day

 

Tomorrow is Election Day.  Cleveland.com has a useful round-up of who/what’s on your ballot, with links to polling places, congressional districts and the like; click here. 

In what is probably the most contentious Ohio primary race, that of a Republican candidate to run for Rob Portman’s US Senate seat in the general, the various liberty groups in Ohio are all over the place.  Some prefer Josh Mandel, others prefer Mike Gibbons, and then Donald Trump endorsed JD Vance; this blog previously linked (click here) to Ohio Gun Owners’ “red alert” on Vance’s history of associations with globalists and Big Tech.  

Whatever your choices, just be sure to vote tomorrow!

# # #

Update on US Senate primary: Mike Gibbons

 

Good news via cleveland.com:

While he didn’t enter the race with the highest profile, Cleveland-area businessman Mike Gibbons is showing signs of emerging as a top-tier candidate in Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Short report here. Earlier CTP post on RINO Josh Mandel is here.

# # #

UPDATE: Mike Gibbons, candidate for U.S. Senate

 

Mike Gibbons 

Kate Scanlon at The Washington Examiner has an update on the upcoming Ohio primary for U.S. Senate: 

Businessman Mike Gibbons is rising in early polls of Ohio’s crowded Republican Senate primary, and he is seeking to introduce himself to voters as the pro-Trump candidate in the race, according to a new advertisement campaign he will launch Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, but several Republican candidates are actively courting that endorsement in a race that has largely been driven by the candidates’ level of fealty to Trump. Author J.D. Vance recently promoted an endorsement from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a controversial freshman lawmaker from Georgia who is a close ally of Trump.

A pair of polls showed Gibbons making significant gains with voters in recent days. One internal campaign poll showed him in the lead with 23%, with Josh Mandel, the former Ohio treasurer and the party’s 2012 Senate nominee, trailing him at 10.8%. An independent poll from Co/Efficient also found Gibbons in the lead but with Mandel in closer proximity.

Read more here.  This primary race is important, and one of my concerns is that at least one Ohio liberty group is endorsing Josh Mandel.  I posted a few months ago on why I think Mandel is not a good choice for Ohio (“Josh Mandel Just Another Dishonest RINO” ~ click here).  I would expect him to be no different than Rob Portman in office.  

Check out Mike Gibbons's website here. 

Mr. Mandel with William Kristol.  Not a good look. 

Mr. Mandel’s early fund-raising letter attempted to brand him as a Trump-supporter.  After what I infer was some push-back, a subsequent fund-raiser instead piggy-backed on the “America First” slogan:

Anybody fooled?  

# # #

Josh Mandel: just another dishonest RINO

 

Josh Mandel and William Kristol.  Photo credit: wksu.org

This latest report from BigLeaguePolitics --

"Ohio Senate Candidate Josh Mandel Pocketed Donations Intended for 2018 GOP Nominee, Paid Tens of Thousands to Mistress"

-- will come as no surprise to readers of this blog, although it is of concern that an Ohio liberty group has endorsed Mandel's candidacy for the US Senate seat presently held by RINO Rob Portman.  Richard Moorhead reports:

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel paid tens of thousands of dollars to a woman he was dating during his 2018 Senate campaign, while married to another woman.

FEC reports show that Rachel Wilson, Mandel’s finance director and mistress, was paid more than $100,000 between his 2018 campaign and a PAC supporting his candidacy.

. . .

Three dozen Republican women, including three women who left Mandel’s campaign citing a toxic work environment created by Wilson in her continuing duties with Mandel’s 2020 campaign, have urged Ohio Republicans to reject Mandel, warning he’ll “embarrass” the party if nominated as a candidate for the US Senate.  Mandel has run for statewide office five times in the past 12 years, with some Ohio Republicans criticizing Mandel, who has served in elected office since 2003, as a career politician who’ll put on the act he needs to in pursuit of the next political gig.

. . .

Questions of Mandel’s ethics go beyond his financial arrangements with his girlfriend while he was married to another woman. Mandel broke onto the scene of national politics as a protege of war criminal Bill Kristol, handpicked as an instrument to advance the nefarious neoconservative’s political views in the United States Senate in an ultimately failed 2012 campaign against Sherrod Brown. Kristol, an advocate of Middle East regime change wars Donald Trump partly ran against in 2016, had recruited Mandel as a candidate in Ohio’s 2012 US Senate election to challenge Sherrod Brown.

Read the full – ugly - report here.  Mr. Mandel says all the right things in front of the camera, but he is obviously just another self-serving hack.  Candidate Mike Gibbons looks better and better.

# # #

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.

# # #

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.

# # #

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.

# # #

 

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!

# # #

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.

# # #

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. 

# # #

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

# # #

Senator Sherrod Brown in the news

art credit: Pinterest

Matthew Boyle at Breitbart reports:

Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio finds himself in serious political trouble after he inaccurately accused Breitbart News Network and chief White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon of being anti-Semitic last week. Bannon is the former executive chairman of Breitbart News.

Last Tuesday, Brown appeared at a Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) event in Washington, D.C., and bashed President Donald Trump’s White House and Breitbart News Network. He spoke after Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a former Breitbart News national security editor who is now a senior White House aide. Now, Brown is under fire as both the head of ZOA and the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2018—Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel—are calling him out publicly as he continues to refuse to apologize and correct his inaccurate statements.

Read more here.

# # #

Word of the day: “electable”

From Fox News Insider, when Mitch McConnell 

claimed 'We're Going to Crush Tea Party Everywhere' in Primaries"

Alexander Bolton at The Hill reports ("Picking 2018 candidates pits McConnell vs. GOP groups"):

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and conservative groups are headed toward a showdown over GOP primaries in 2018.

McConnell has voiced confidence that Republicans will nominate “electable” candidates as they seek to grow their narrow majority during an election cycle in which Democrats will be defending 23 seats to just eight for the GOP.

. . .

A few battles are already shaping up in 2018.

In Ohio, it is unclear whether the GOP establishment will back Mandel, who lost to Brown in 2012.

The Club for Growth is backing Mandel. In 2010, it helped defeat former Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah), one of McConnell’s best friends, in a GOP primary.

Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, has amassed $6.3 million in campaign funds and might be seen as a stronger candidate by Washington Republicans.

“We’re supporting Josh Mandel in Ohio. I think the establishment would probably prefer Pat Tiberi, but any competent Republican consultant would strongly advise Tiberi not to run,” said Andrew Roth, vice president for government affairs at the Club for Growth. “The establishment should like Mandel.

That word “electable.” The GOPe wanted Jeb! as the 2016 candidate, because he was “electable.” That’s how they described Mitt Romney. Sounds like the GOPe is going to go to the mat to keep the UniParty intact (read: their noses in the trough).

Read the rest here.

# # #