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Former President Donald Trump’s rally for Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance Saturday will likely be the biggest event of the hotly-contested race — and the race may be the biggest test of Trump’s endorsement power yet.
Trump backed Vance for the GOP Senate nomination in Ohio after months of the top candidates jockeying for his support. Rivals Mike Gibbons, Jane Timken and Josh Mandel — all advised and endorsed by at least some Trump-world regulars — sparred with Vance and each other about whose support for Trump was more genuine.
For most of the race it appeared Mandel and Gibbons were the frontrunners. They were effectively tied atop a Fox News Poll of the race conducted in early March, with Vance, Timken and Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan all clustered in a second tier in the race.
Republican Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance at the “Up from Chaos” conference hosted by the American Moment nonprofit and The American Conservative magazine. (Fox News)
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But then Trump picked Vance, putting Vance squarely in contention for the nomination.
“Here is a case where the Trump endorsement could really make all the difference,” University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato told Fox News. “He wasn’t one of the two leaders. But it seems to me like Trump’s endorsement could easily propel Vance to a victory.”
Sabato added: “There’s no runoff here. And if you’ve got five candidates splitting up the vote, it becomes easier. And if this was part of Trump’s calculation, it was a smart calculation.”
From Vance’s perspective, the Trump endorsement takes the sting out of one of the most common attacks against his candidacy: That he was highly critical of Trump during his first run for president in 2016.
Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in Selma, North Carolina, on April 9, 2022.
(Peter…
Source : foxnews
