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BRECKSVILLE, Ohio—No one can credibly say Mike DeWine sets a crowd on fire. Earning the closing spot at a Republican candidate showcase in a posh suburb of Cleveland on Thursday evening did him no favors, as most of his audience had been on its feet for 90 minutes already. And his fellow GOP candidates had punchier one-liners than DeWine, who won his first elected office in 1976, needs only the thinest of introductions, and was giving the same speech for the fourth time that day.
“You’ve been very patient. There have been a lot of speakers,” DeWine said with an apologetic shrug just before 8 p.m. on Thursday just moments before Game 5 of the World Series began. “I want to say something about J.D. I’ve known him for some time. He’s a good man and will represent us well in the United States Senate. This race is incredibly important.”
DeWine was referring to J.D. Vance, the Republican handpicked by Trump to be the party’s nominee for a rare open Senate seat in Ohio. Vance’s bid against Democrat Tim Ryan, which appears surprisingly close for red-leaning Ohio in a year Republicans are supposed to have the wind at their back, has made the race one of the most closely watched in the country.
For DeWine, that’s meant putting some of his political muscle into helping Vance amid his own bid for re-election against former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley. Come election eve on Monday, DeWine will be in Dayton with former President Donald Trump for a rally explicitly to boost Vance.
“It’s a rally for J.D. Vance, and certainly I support him,” DeWine told me in Zanesville between his speech and his bus ride northward to the next stop. “I think it’s important that we have J.D. Vance in the…
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Source : time
