Vance spoke at the rally and echoed themes in his book about his family, community, and friends. Vance also addressed a few major issues that conservatives have been involved in during the Senate primaries. He criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci, attacked Biden's border policies, and railing against critical race theories.Vance stated that Washington needs fighters. Washington, D.C. has a lot fighters. They fight for the wrong reasons.Vance said that the Senate needed someone who "knows how the system works, can reform it and can make this country a better place."Others have been running for months and raising money to try and win former President Donald Trump's support in the race. However, Trump has not yet endorsed or name-checked many of the candidates at his rally last week in the state. This race features Josh Mandel, who was the former treasurer of the state and lost the 2012 Senate race. Jane Timken is the former chair of the state party. Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno are businessmen. In the months ahead, other Republicans may still be interested in joining the fray.A Republican strategist who requested anonymity to discuss the matter, said that it was anyone's game due to the sheer number of candidates.J.D. The strategist stated that Vance has entered this race, making it more difficult to determine who is the winner.There have been a few candidates who have seen their establishment donors split. The strategist said that Republican primary voters will follow their lead.Mandel, who aggressively pursued Trump supporters through incendiary comments and tweets, leads the early polling in this race. He also holds an advantage in name identification due to his previous statewide campaigns. He also announced that he would raise $1.5 million for the second quarter. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Mandels' fundraising staffers had left the campaign in recent weeks due to a hostile work environment.Timken has emphasized early organizing of the campaign. She launched door knocking campaigns and ads earlier than other campaigns. She raised $1million and self-funded an additional $1 million in the first quarter of this year. However, she has not released second-quarter figures. Gibbons raised $6 million over the past three months, $5 million of which was his own money. Although Moreno has not released his fundraising figures, he is believed to be able to self-fund. In his first month, he had previously stated that he raised $1 million.All the candidates are vying to get Trump's endorsement. They have been organizing around Trump's rally in the state this weekend. Trump did not endorse the candidates, but instead polled the audience.Vance is a first-time candidate and has some name identification. This includes notoriety for his book and Netflix movie, as well as frequent appearances on Fox News Channel talking to the GOP base. He will have to deal with Trump's past criticisms from 2016. He had a meeting with Trump earlier in the year.He was attacked by rivals for a tweet he sent in October 2016 regarding his support of Evan McMullin, an independent candidate, and which was deleted. CNN republished it Thursday.We welcome him to the Republican Party and not only to the race," Wes Farno (a senior adviser to Gibbons) said in a statement.Mandi Merritt spokeswoman for Timken also referred to McMullin, in a statement which took aim at other candidates. Merrit said that Timken was the only true America First candidate, having fought in the trenches for President Trump's winning policies for Ohio over the past five years.Vance has well-funded allies who will support him, regardless of how much he raises. Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist and tech titan, donated $10 million to a super PAC that supported Vance. As Vance begins his run, the group already has a digital ad that boosts Vance to six figures.
