Two primary races in Ohio are being watched on Tuesday as potential indicators for the state of both political parties heading into the midterm elections.
The 15th district’s race is being held to fill Representative Steve Stivers’s seat after he resigned to head up the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The eleventh district’s special election will replace Representative Marcia Fudge, who recently became the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for the Biden administration.
The 15th district’s race has a full field of Republican candidates, but only one of them has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Trump endorsed Mike Carey, who previously worked in the energy industry as an executive.
In his endorsement, Trump said:
Mike Carey, who is running for Congress int he Great State of Ohio, was born and raised in the 15th District. He will be a courageous fighter for the people and our economy, is strong on the Border, and tough on Crime. As a veteran, he totally supports our Military and his fellow Vets. A strong supporter of the Second Amendment, Mike will do an outstanding job in Congress. He has my Complete and Total Endorsement!
As The New York Times reported on Tuesday:
Last week, the pro-Trump group Make America Great Again Action made a last-minute purchase of nearly $350,000 in text messages, digital ads and television commercials in support of Mr. Carey. And Mr. Carey has pointed to the Trump seal of approval as his main selling point. When he filled out a candidate questionnaire for USA Today’s Ohio bureau, for instance, the first thing he wrote as his answer to a question about why voters should pick him was “First, I am honored to have President Trump’s endorsement.”
The primary comes after the candidate who was endorsed by Trump in a special runoff election in Texas didn’t win last week. Trump had endorsed Republican Susan Wright, whose husband held the seat before he died after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this year. Wright lost the special election to state Representative Jake Ellzey.
In the more Democratic-leaning eleventh district, two Democratic candidates are leading the polls who have different approaches to specific policies. Former state Senator Nina Turner and Councilwoman Shontel Brown are the candidates who many are watching on election day. Brown is considered by some to be more of a Democratic establishment candidate with the backing of Hillary Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus PAC.
On the contrary, members of the so-called “squad” have endorsed Turner. In July, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told voters, “Please send me Nina…We need Nina.”
The Democratic Majority for Israel’s PAC also supported Brown over Turner, who has voiced support for pro-Palestinian protests.
Solidarity is a verb ✊🏾 https://t.co/Kupgdtuqey
— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) May 12, 2021
They also reportedly distributed ads that showed Turner had not been supportive of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
“We knew it was coming, because of my experience with Sen. Sanders,” Turner said, per The Washington Post. “We tried to plan accordingly, and we really came in honestly on the issues themselves. Medicare-for-all, increasing the minimum wage, canceling student debt, environmental justice, racial justice, all the things I’ve been working for.”
The results of the primaries might reveal important insight into the place of both parties before the highly-anticipated 2022 elections where Republicans could potentially take control of both the House and Senate.