It’s election day in America, well at least it is in Ohio and Indiana for both state and federal primary candidates. Amidst the backdrop of the leaked Supreme Court opinion draft that could potentially overturn Roe v. Wade, voters are heading to cast their ballots in key match-ups that could determine the future of the GOP and the Democratic Party.
Ohio
The Daily Wire reported earlier on Tuesday that the two leading candidates in Ohio’s GOP Senate race are both claiming to hold the “America First” mantle. Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel is neck-and-neck with best-selling author and entrepreneur J.D. Vance. Vance, a relative outsider in Ohio politics, might hold the advantage over Mandel thanks to a massive endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Mandel, and other critics, rebuked Vance for some anti-Trump comments he made during the 2016 election. Vance, for his part, has stated that his opinion of Trump changed once he saw the job he did as president. The Daily Wire also noted that Trump defended his endorsement at an Ohio rally.
“He’s a guy who said some bad [expletive] about me,” Trump told a crowd of Ohioans. “But you know what? All the others did, also. In fact, if I went by that standard, I don’t think I would have ever endorsed anybody in the country.”
Mandel enjoys the support of folks like Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and conservative legend Mark Levin.
Polls indicate that the election is very close. “A recent Emerson College poll showed Vance holding a lead as small as 26%-24% in a field that includes former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken, investment banker Mike Gibbons, and state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians Major League Baseball team,” The Daily Wire noted.
Candidates in the race have already spent a whopping $66 million. The winner of the GOP primary will likely face Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH), who is leading the Democratic primary against Morgan Harper and Traci Johnson.
As noted by Vox, Democrats also have an interesting race in Ohio, one that could answer whether or not the base of the party truly is clamoring for the party to move leftward.
“The more interesting intra-party fight is happening in the 11th Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Shontel Brown is defending a seat in a rematch with one of the country’s most visible progressive leaders, Nina Turner,” Vox noted. “Turner was a key Sanders surrogate in the 2016 and 2020 primaries and led Our Revolution, the national progressive organization, after Sen. Bernie Sanders’s first failed presidential run.”
Thanks to redistricting, Turner has a potential chance to win the seat as 30% of the 11th district’s voters are new to the area.
Indiana
Indiana’s 9th Congressional District seems to be where the action is for the Hoosier State. Congressman Trey Hollingsworth (R–IN) announced that he would not seek re-election in 2022. Now, nine GOP candidates are vying for their party’s nomination for the seat. That includes Jim Baker, Stu Barnes-Israel, J. Michael Davisson, Dan Heiwig, Erin Houchin, D. Eric Schansberg, Mike Sodrel, Bill Thomas, and Brian Tibbs.
Out of the nine, it would appear that Barnes-Israel, Houchin, and Sodrel are top contenders.
Folks like U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL), and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (R) have all endorsed Barnes-Israel, a former veteran.
Houchin, meanwhile, has secured endorsements from The Susan B. Anthony List, Indiana Right to Life, and U.S. Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), and Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
FiveThirtyEight also noted that Sodrel is a top fundraiser in the race as well. Unlike the Ohio Senate race, Trump has not endorsed anybody in the race.
The winner of that primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary — either D. Liam Dorris, Matthew Fyfe, or Isak Nti Asare — in the general election come November.