JD Vance’s deadlocked race against Democrat Tim Ryan for a U.S. Senate seat in Republican-leaning Ohio exemplifies the struggles besetting the GOP seven weeks before the midterm elections, where the party’s once-strong chances of taking the chamber have ebbed.
Vance has been outraised and outspent by Ryan in the race to replace retiring two-term Republican Rob Portman, forcing the party to marshal resources to his campaign after his main benefactor, billionaire Peter Thiel, stopped funding a super PAC backing Vance following the GOP primary. Former President Donald Trump staged a rally in Ryan’s district last week to stoke excitement around Vance’s candidacy.
The Senate Leadership Fund aligned with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has pulled $18 million in advertising from Arizona, where Trump-endorsed Blake Masters is challenging Democrat U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, and reserved $28 million in Ohio to bolster Vance. That effectively placed Republicans into a defensive posture for Senate races in a year they were widely expected to be on offense.
