COLUMBUS – With control of Congress potentially in the balance, the political stars will be shining in Ohio as part of the final push for votes by both major parties ahead Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The state is home to a close governor’s race and a pair of tight congressional campaigns.
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Vice President Mike Pence was accompanied by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, for a rally for Ohio Republican candidates attended by several hundred people Wednesday inside a hangar at an airport in Mansfield.
Pence was joined on stage by Republican gubernatorial candidate Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Jim Renacci and Rep. Troy Balderson.
DeWine is in a close race with Democrat Richard Cordray. Balderson is also in a tight race with Democratic Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor, who narrowly lost to Balderson in an August special election, for the House seat left vacant by the retirement of Pat Tiberi. Renacci faces an uphill battle in his attempt to unseat incumbent Sen., Sherrod Brown.
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Democratic Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren headlines rallies Thursday at Ohio State University and at Ohio University in Athens with Richard Cordray and his running mate Betty Sutton.
President Donald Trump has called Cordray a “far-left disciple” of Warren, a potential 2020 presidential contender whom Trump frequently targets for mockery. Cordray was head of the federal consumer protection bureau, which was promoted by Warren.
Cordray told supporters in an email that a Trump tweet Tuesday was “a vile smear” of his record with “a nasty slur about Elizabeth Warren that’s beneath the dignity of the office of President.”
Trump plans a stop in Cleveland as part of a last-minute pre-election swing through several states.
The Republican president will be in Cleveland the afternoon of Nov. 5 with other stops planned that day in Indiana and Missouri. He plans stops in Georgia and Tennessee the day before.
Trump won Ohio easily in 2016, while Democrat Barack Obama won it in 2008 and 2012.