The Buckeye State has gotten a lot of attention from the Trump administration lately, and it’s about to get even more.
President Donald Trump will appear at the Ohio Republican Party’s state dinner Aug. 24, party chair and Trump loyalist Jane Timken announced today. That’s another sign that the national GOP is still laser-focused on the state ahead of the 2018 elections.
After the dinner in Columbus, Trump will attend a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, who is fighting an uphill battle to unseat long-time incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
The appearance will come less than three weeks after Trump’s last visit to Ohio. The president swooped into Delaware County Aug. 4 to stump for Troy Balderson, the Republican candidate in a special election for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District. Balderson has a razor-thin 1,534-vote lead over his opponent, Democrat Danny O’Connor, though some provisional and absentee ballots have yet to be counted.
That contest will play again in November — as will another hard-fought battle for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District. That battle, between incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, a Republican, and his Democrat challenger Aftab Pureval, also has the potential to go down to the wire.
Vice President Mike Pence has also been a frequent visitor to Ohio of late, including a visit to Cincinnati and Toledo yesterday. Pence appeared at the Westin hotel downtown at an event put on by America First Policies, a pro-Trump political action committee. He then attended a fundraiser for Renacci at the Queen City Club and another in Toledo. Pence also recently came to the Buckeye State to campaign for Balderson.
Republicans are focusing on races like Chabot’s, Balderson’s and Renacci’s as they work to maintain control of the U.S. House and Senate in November. Generally, mid-term elections aren’t kind to congressional candidates from a sitting president’s party, and Trump’s divisive nature among voters looks like it could make the 2018 elections especially fraught for the GOP. Election forecasters recently moved Chabot’s district, usually safely Republican, to “toss up” in recent weeks, for example. Republicans, however, say they’re not worried, and have even predicted a “red wave” come November.
This article appears in Aug 15-22, 2018.
