
Fox News Power Rankings: Ohio Senate race moves further in JD Vance’s direction
Fox News
The U.S. Senate race in Ohio firms up for Republican Party nominee JD Vance.
U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance received a much-needed shot in the arm on April 15, when former President Trump endorsed the "Hillbilly Elegy" author in the Ohio primary. Trump’s seal of approval catapulted Vance from third place to first in the final pre-primary Fox News Poll, but analysts still saw Vance as one of Trump’s riskier picks. Conservative firebrand Josh Mandel (who clearly captured the former president’s attention) and issues-focused Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan both stayed competitive as the weeks wore on.
In the end, it wasn’t even close. Vance captured the nomination with 32.2% of the vote (as of this writing), with Mandel and Dolan trailing 8 and 9 points behind, respectively. Just as importantly, turnout in the GOP Senate primary looked very good, with an increase of 37.9% between 2018 and 2022. Turnout in the Democrats' Senate primary was down 16.8%.