ICYMI: Ben Shapiro “Deeply Worried” About Ohio Republican Senate Field, Says Vance And Mandel’s “Pandering” Could Damage Them In The General
September 3, 2021
Shapiro: “I think that they [Mandel and Vance] are doing a lot of stuff to win the primaries that could damage them in the general”
Columbus, OH — Yesterday, on his radio show, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro lamented the current state of the Ohio GOP Senate field and said that he is “deeply worried” about the prospect of Republicans losing the race because of the weak field of candidates. He called out Senate candidates Josh Seth Mandel and J.D. Vance specifically for their pandering that he believes could damage them in the general election.
Shapiro said he has “significant doubts” about the race and that Republicans need to get behind someone “legit” – something he apparently doesn’t see in the current GOP field. This comes after a report from The Hill of Republicans worrying that the GOP Senate candidates are putting themselves on a “collision course” that could hobble the party’s chances in the 2022 midterm elections.
“Even Republicans like Ben Shapiro know that these attention-seeking millionaires are fueling a destructive primary fight and setting Republicans up to lose the Ohio Senate race next November. Shapiro is ringing the alarm bells about the GOP Senate field because he knows Ohioans won’t take these clowns seriously,” said Michael Beyer, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party.
Listen to the audio here or a transcript below:
- Ben Shapiro: “I’m deeply worried about that Ohio Senate race. So the Ohio Senate Republican candidates range from Seth Mandel who has run in the past and fallen short, to JD Vance who’s getting a lot of publicity but doesn’t seem to be polling particularly well at this time. Those are the ones who are getting all the publicity. You’ve seen some other people who have talked about running – throwing their hat into the ring – until this develops a little bit more it’s hard for me to say who I think is going to win. But all I will say is the Republicans better mobilize behind somebody who is legit pretty quickly because if we lose that Ohio Senate seat it’s going to be very difficult to take back the Senate in general. I have significant doubts about that race. I think that some of the pandering from Mandel and Vance is not going to be particularly effective. I think that they are doing a lot of stuff to win the primaries that could damage them in the general.”