Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine earned national praise for his swift action early in the COVID-19 pandemic to institute measures to stop the spread of the deadly virus. While that sent his approval ratings skyrocketing — reaching 83 percent in spring 2020 — eventually, the backlash and malaise we’ve seen elsewhere over closings, masks and vaccine mandates set in, particularly among GOP voters.
Luckily for DeWine, his two primary challengers have struggled to gain traction. The field is much smaller than it might have been, too, as other candidates gravitated toward the wild and open Senate primary. A one-on-one race could have made him more vulnerable, but that hasn’t happened.
Former Rep. Jim Renacci is the biggest name in the race. He ran a lackluster 2018 Senate campaign when he lost to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. And given Trump’s disdain for DeWine, the fact that he hasn’t endorsed Renacci, particularly in this race speaks volumes. Trump doesn’t like “losers,” and there’s rumored still to be ill feelings toward Renacci after the Senate race. He has personal money to spend,
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