Cruz endorses Mandel in Ohio’s crowded and combustible GOP Senate primary

With lower than a month to go till major day in Ohio, one of many main candidates within the aggressive and contentious Republican Senate race landed a significant endorsement.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Monday endorsed Josh Mandel, a U.S. Marine fight veteran and former Ohio treasurer who’s making his third bid for the Senate.

THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN OHIO’S CROWDED AND COMPETITIVE GOP SENATE PRIMARY

“As our nation faces disaster after disaster beneath Joe Biden, our nation wants Conservative fighters to face as much as the unconventional Democrats who need to exploit these issues to ship socialism to America. That is why I’m supporting Josh Mandel for U.S. Senate,” Cruz, who stays well-liked with many on the proper throughout the nation, wrote in an announcement.

Pointing to Mandel’s two excursions of responsibility within the warfare in Iraq, Cruz emphasised that “Josh is a confirmed fighter for our American lifestyle, a champion for the unborn, and a stalwart advocate for our spiritual liberties. I’m proud to endorse Josh Mandel for U.S. Senate, and I ask each conservative in Ohio to do the identical.”

Cruz turns into the third Republican within the Senate to assist Mandel, following Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

“Having Senator Cruz’s assist reveals that he believes I’m the one candidate on this U.S. Senate race who may have the spine and braveness to face up alongside him in Washington and tackle the social gathering bosses, left-wing media, and highly effective lobbyists,” Mandel wrote in an announcement. “Once I get to the Senate, I sit up for serving as a reinforcement for Senator Cruz as we stand as much as Joe Biden and work to defeat the far-left’s radical agenda.”    

FRONT-RUNNERS GIBBONS AND MANDEL TAKE AIM AT EACH OTHER

Mandel is one in every of eight GOP candidates working within the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman. The crowded and heated major subject additionally contains 2018 Ohio Republican Senate candidate Mike Gibbons, a Cleveland entrepreneur, actual property developer and funding banker; enterprise capitalist and bestselling creator J.D. Vance; former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken; and state Sen. Matt Dolan, a former county and state prosecutor whose household owns Main League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians.

Josh Mandel, U.S. Republican senate candidate for Ohio, speaks through the Conservative Political Motion Convention (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 25, 2022.
(Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures)

Gibbons has been endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who, like Cruz, can also be influential with many conservatives throughout the nation. Vance has been backed by Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, one other conservative firebrand. 

Timken was endorsed earlier this yr by Portman. She additionally has the backing of Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of neighboring West Virginia, Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Deb Fischer of Nebraska. 

THREE TOP OHIO SENATE GOP RIVALS MAKE THEIR CASE TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS AT CPAC

Former President Donald Trump, who stays the most well-liked and influential politician within the GOP as he continues to play a kingmaker’s function in Republican primaries and repeatedly teases one other White Home run in 2024, has remained impartial to this point within the Ohio Senate major.

A Fox Information ballot performed March 2-6 – which is the newest public opinion survey within the race – indicated Gibbons at 22% amongst like Republican major voters, with Mandel at 20%, Vance at 11%, Timken at 9%, Dolan at 7%, and practically 1 / 4 of these surveyed undecided.

The winner of the Could 3 Republican major could face off towards longtime Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, of northeastern Ohio.

Ryan is taken into account the favourite for the Democratic nomination in race that additionally contains progressive Morgan Harper, a former Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau senior adviser and 2020 congressional candidate.