Prior to Trump's endorsement, he was in third place behind Mandel and Gibbons. Even though he acknowledged that Hillbilly Elegy had criticized him before, Trump gave him his support.
Though Trump's endorsement changed the trajectory of the race, he still only captured about a third of the primary vote. The results suggested that the GOP is still fighting between its establishment wing and the presence of Trump.
Mike DeWine was re-elected despite the fact that his policies on coronaviruses were too strict. The other statewide GOP officials and state House incumbents were all seeking reelection.
The fight for the House majority is central to the selection of candidates in Ohio and Indiana.
The Republican primary for the open Senate seat in Ohio is a rough-and-tumble fight in which two candidates almost came to blows on the debate stage.
After Trump endorsed him, he rocketed to the top of public polling. Mandel, who has also embraced Trump's politics, has been the chief rival of Vance. While shunning the former president and questioning his hold on the party, the son of the owner of the Cleveland baseball team gained support.
In that, he was alone. The former president's support was chased by the rest of the field, including investment banker Mike Gibbons.
Democrats will still fight for the seat. Tim Ryan ran for president in 2019. Ryan took the plunge to run statewide this election after his House district was destroyed by the Republican-dominated process of drawing districts.
Ryan has emphasized his disagreements with his party in his messaging, including a recent ad where he said his party got it wrong on the trade deals that sent your jobs overseas.
The Republican governor's race in Ohio is one of the biggest statewide primaries in the state.
Jim Renacci and Joe Blystone were in the field challenging DeWine. Both tried to run to the right of the Ohio pol, with Renacci chasing Trump's support and supporters and Blystone trying to ride anti-vaccine mandate fervor. Blystone recently shared a photo of himself standing by a sign with a swastika made out of needles.
DeWine won the primary with a comfortable margin. Democrats will be watching to see if there is any weakness among base voters that they can exploit in the general election.
The Democrats will field a credible challenger, with former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley defeating Whaley for the nomination.
The Secretary of State turned away a GOP primary challenge from John Adams. LaRose, who co-chaired the National Association of Secretaries of State elections group during the run-up to the 2020 election, recently pivoted to praise Trump despite the former president's continued lies. LaRose received Trump's endorsement.
Republicans will try to flip several House districts in Ohio and Indiana.
The race to take on Rep. Kaptur, who found herself in a red-leaning seat after the 2010 Census, has drawn the most attention and turned into a GOP proxy war. J.R. Majewski, who once painted Trump's face on his lawn and raised $25,000 to escort a group down to the Jan. 6 rallies, emerged victorious.
Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, a former Miss Ohio who is endorsed by Donald Trump, won the GOP nomination in an open northeast Ohio district. She will face a former state House Minority Leader in the election.
Max Miller, a former Trump aide who was recruited to challenge Anthony Gonzalez after he voted to impeach Trump, was able to run in another district after the retirement of GOP Rep. Bob Gibbs. Gonzalez decided to stop working.
In Indiana, an Air Force Reserve officer beat the mayor of La Porte for the GOP nod to take on a Democratic congressman. Biden won his northwest Indiana seat by 9 points. There is a safe GOP seat in the south of the state because of Rep. Hollingsworth's retirement. The former state Sen. grabbed the nomination ahead of the other two. Mike Sodrel served one term in the early 2000s.
Democrats have no primaries in their Ohio target districts. Greg Landsman, a former Cincinnati City Council member, is running for the GOP nomination to take on Steve Chabot. In the open northeast Ohio seat which Biden narrowly carried in 2020, the former state House Minority Leader is not up for reelection. Her parents were both in the legislature. She could eventually face Gilbert, who is running on the GOP side.
One of the biggest Democratic races of 2020 looks less competitive. For the second time in as many years, Brown defeated Turner. The Congressional Black Caucus backed Brown, who came from behind to beat Turner in a special primary election last August. Turner is back for a second fight, but many of the big progressive names didn't want to go all in this time.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus's political action committee backed Brown, drawing some outrage from its members. Brown got help from Democratic Majority for Israel, the new super PAC and the Protect Our Future PAC.
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