CANTON, Ohio — As the Republican candidates competing in Ohio’s 2022 U.S. Senate race vie for former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, one candidate is going so far as recording a radio ad welcoming Trump back to Ohio for his Saturday rally in Wellington.
Jane Timken, the former Ohio Republican Party chair, recorded a minute-long ad that will run in Cleveland before Trump’s event.
“Nothing energizes our conservative grassroots more than a Trump rally!” Timken said in the ad, which Spectrum News received an early look at.
At least five Republicans have formally entered the race to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman, and several others are considering jumping in.
The candidates have spent the early days of the primary, which is just under a year away, essentially trying to out-Trump one another, following the former president’s two eight-point victories in Ohio.
At least four of the declared candidates and one potential candidate have even traveled to Florida to meet with Trump.
Recent internal polling conducted by some of the campaigns indicates Timken and former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel are the two early frontrunners.
“With the Biden liberals advancing their socialist agenda, President Trump’s voice has never been more important,” Timken said in the radio ad.
Trump is holding his first post-presidential rally on Saturday in Wellington to campaign for Max Miller, a former aide who is running to unseat northeast Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
While Miller’s OH-16 race will be Trump’s focus at the event, most of the Republicans running for Senate plan to be at the rally to try and capitalize on the exposure.
As of Wednesday evening, campaign officials confirmed that Timken, Mandel, Bernie Moreno and Mike Gibbons will all attend Trump’s event.
A representative with the Gibbons campaign said they don’t expect any Senate candidate to speak at the rally, but Gibbons will be hosting a tailgate before Trump takes the stage and he will attend a VIP fundraiser with Trump beforehand.
The Timken campaign has said it plans to host something before the rally as well.
Timken has spent the first few months of her campaign leaning in hard to her support for Trump and her efforts to reelect him while she chaired the Ohio Republican Party.
“I was very proud to be endorsed by President Trump to lead our Party,” Timken said in her ad. “As the Ohio GOP Chairman, I raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for our president, put over 150,000 miles on my cars and campaigned in all 88 counties to deliver a decisive eight-point win for President Trump.”
Trump has not indicated when, or if, he will endorse in the Senate race, but his popularity in Ohio amongst Republicans makes his endorsement coveted.
As The Toledo Blade reported last week, there was even a mishap involving a photo of Timken and Trump on the endorsement page of Timken’s website that ended up getting removed after a Politico reporter flagged it.
Meanwhile, northeast Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is the only Democrat formally in the race.
