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November 22, 2021

Happy Monday, and welcome to “Buckeye Brawl,” a weekly newsletter from the Ohio Democratic Party highlighting the nasty, chaotic and expensive Republican primary for Senate. This out-of-control primary is making conservatives “deeply worried” about the prospects of Republicans losing this seat.

As the Republican Senate primary continues to sink lower and lower, these GOP candidates are injecting even more nasty personal attacks, more chaos and more money into this race. We’re here to help you keep track of all of it.

This week, we are going to focus on Thursday’s forum since that’s where most of the nasty attacks happened. And a quick programming note: This Buckeye Brawl will have to hold you over for Thanksgiving. Enjoy your holiday and remember: There’s no way your family’s Thanksgiving could possibly be messier than this primary.

Here’s what you may have missed:

ASPIRING CABLE TV STAR WITH EMPTY RHETORIC. Dolan tweeted that Ohio didn’t need a “bomb thrower or aspiring cable TV star with empty rhetoric.” That must hurt for Mandel and Vance. Dolan tweeted this on the same day as the GOP Senate forum in Strongsville, which Vance had to leave early from for a Fox News cable news hit. The writers couldn’t make this up!

RINOS CATER TO GAZILLIONAIRES. Responding to a question about why he kept the money from his 2018 campaign and why he didn’t help Renacci more, Mandel took a shot at the field, saying that RINOs (which he has called Timken and Vance) cater to gazillionaires. The gazillionaires attack from Mandel is one he said at his election lie rally earlier this month when Mandel said he’s running against “a bunch of millionaires and gazillionaires.” In her next question, Timken fired back at Mandel, saying, “Josh, I went to you and said, ‘Josh, I know you needed to drop out. But you need to help the rest of us…’ You know what Josh said to me? He didn’t hesitate, ‘No.’ When you need someone to stand up for you I did, Josh didn’t.” Folks, we still have six months to go and this is deeply personal and nasty.

BEEN IN POLITICS TOO LONG. When Vance was asked about his campaign benefiting from a large donation from Big Tech billionaire Peter Thiel and if he’s detached, Vance used his answer to attack Timken and Mandel. He said Mandel has “been running for office for a long time“ and Timken has “been in politics for a long time.” We think this is Vance’s response to Timken calling him a “Johnny-come-lately” to the Trump agenda, but hey they all are. And to be clear, Vance has been a political insider on the Republican think tank circuit for years so he isn’t excused from this either. This continues to be a theme in this crowded Republican Senate primary: phonies attacking each other for being phonies.

OUTRAGEOUS ATTENTION SEEKERS. In an interview with CNN’s Eva McKend, Timken sideswiped Mandel and Vance, saying, “You can’t win a race in Ohio on Twitter…Saying outrageous things to garner attention is not how I’m going to run this race and not how I’m going to win this race.” She had a similar line of attack in an interview on The Bruce Hooley Show, where Jane Timken said, “I think they like the idea of being a senator. I think they like to talk a lot, but I don’t think they’re doers. Look, I’ve been fighting for the conservative cause, I’ve been in the trenches. I don’t know where they were.” It’s a similar line to what Timken said last week attacking Vance and Mandel, when she said, “We’ve got a lot of showboaters and show horses in this race. I’m a workhorse…” Well, both Mandel and Vance have based their campaigns around retweets, soundbites, outrage, and very little actual substance.

Thanks for reading along – that’s all for the Buckeye Brawl this week. If you have questions, my email is [email protected]. Have a great holiday!

Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters slammed Mike DeWine for reversing himself on previous statements and signing an unconstitutional map into law that betrays Ohioans and flies in the face of reforms voters overwhelmingly called for.

“There’s only one thing you can count on Mike DeWine for: naked, partisan self-interest. By signing these despicable maps into law, DeWine is leaving no doubt he will always put his own political interests over the interests of Ohioans he is supposed to serve. DeWine and the Ohio GOP are doing everything and anything they can to prevent voters from holding them accountable at the ballot box while they continue to betray Ohioans at every turn,” said Chair Walters.

Columbus, OH — According to a new Axios report, three of the leading GOP Senate candidates now have a super PAC supporting them, which is sure to make this primary even longer, nastier and more expensive. This week, Ohio Leads, a super PAC backing Jane Timken, reported spending $220,000 on pro-Timken digital ads.  

Two pro-Mandel super PACs have already launched a cumulative nearly $1 million ad buy attacking J.D. Vance. The ads highlight Vance’s own words calling Trump an “idiot,” “reprehensible,” and “noxious.” One of the ads lambasts Vance for calling himself a “flip-flop flipper” to describe how he changed his position on Trump. 

“With six months until the GOP Senate primary, the out-of-touch millionaires and their deep-pocketed allies are doing everything they can to make this primary longer, nastier and more expensive. Instead of talking about lowering costs for Ohio’s working families, the GOP millionaires are too busy escalating their petty feuds and turning off Ohio voters in the process,” said Michael Beyer, a spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Read more below: 

Axios: Ohio GOP candidates push super PAC bounds

By Lachlan Markay

November 18, 2021

• What’s happening: The latest ostensibly independent group to enter the fray, a super PAC called Ohio Leads, is backing former state GOP chair Jane Timken.
• It was officially formed in September, and this week reported spending more than $220,000 on pro-Timken digital ads.
• The big picture: Timken and Mandel are both competing against a candidate, “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance, whose super PAC is backed by $10 million from billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel.
• The race is expected to be one of the most expensive in the country, during a midterm cycle that will likely break election spending records.

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Columbus, OH — Today, the Ohio Democratic Party released the following statement after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Build Back Better Act, sending the legislation to the U.S. Senate. The legislation is an important investment in working families in Ohio, which will cut costs for hard-working Ohioans and help our state get back on the road to recovery.

“Today’s passage of the Build Back Better Act is an important step forward for working families in Ohio. As we saw last night, Washington Republicans want to stick to their playbook of looking out for Wall Street and special interests, while Democrats are laser-focused on making life more affordable for working Ohioans. The Build Back Better Act will put more money in the pockets of hard-working Ohioans, and we’re looking forward to the Senate passing this much-needed bill,” said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.

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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters issued the following statement calling on Republican lawmakers to finally put an end to GOP-led measures that put Ohioans’ health and safety at risk, and focus on the issues that matter to Ohio voters instead. The latest GOP vaccine bill that passed the House today handcuffs Ohio businesses and organizations, preventing them from taking critical steps to keep their employees safe amidst the latest surge of COVID-19.

“It’s far past time for Republicans to stop playing political games with a pandemic. Instead of focusing on critical issues that matter, like fixing gerrymandered state maps or taking action to stop Ohioans from bearing the cost of the GOP’s $60 million bribery scheme, Republicans are wasting time jamming a bill through the legislature that handcuffs businesses and puts Ohioans’ health and safety at risk,” said Chair Walters.

Chair Walters also urges the Ohio Senate to vote down this dangerous legislation and for Mike DeWine to veto this dangerous bill if it reaches his desk.

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