Tag: U.S. Senator Rob Portman

Ohio GOP Candidates for U.S. Senate Pan $3.5 Trillion Budget Reconciliation Plan

Brian Ball

Republican candidates running for the party nomination for the U.S. Senate race in 2022 have formed a solid wall of opposition to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill stuck in congressional negotiations this last week.

But Ohio Senator Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, breaks with pack with his support of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act backed by U.S.  Senator Rob Portman, R-OH, who has led negotiations on what is billed as a bipartisan effort to fix crumbling roads and bridges across the U.S.

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Josh Mandel Campaign Releases Ohio Senate Poll with Him Still Heading GOP Pack

Brian Ball
Josh Mandel

Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel’s polling has him remaining at the head of the pack among Republicans vying for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

The poll also shows venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elogy” author J.D. Vance still well behind in second place and Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons edging out former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken.

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Ohio General Assembly Veteran Joins Crowded GOP Race for U.S. Senator Portman Seat

Brian Ball

A suburban Cleveland state lawmaker has become the latest Republican to join the crowded GOP field seeking the nomination to replace retiring U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio.)
Ohio Senator Matt Dolan, R24-Chagrin Fall, a three-term Ohio House member term-limted from seeking re-election to the state senate, jumped into the race with three high-profile contenders and several others lesser know candidates mounting some level of challenge as the national GOP attempts to wrest control of the upper chamber of Congress in the mid-term elections.

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Ohio Senate Candidate Jane Timken Pledges Support of Constitutional Amendment Against ‘Court-Packing’ in Wake of SCOTUS Abortion Ruling

Brian Ball

U.S. Senate contender Jane Timken has formally signed onto efforts in support of  a constitutional amendment to keep the number of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court at nine  as the political left again attempt to expand the court’s membership.

Timken’s statement follows the recent U.S. Supreme Court “shadow docket” ruling not to immediately block a Texas law restricting abortion to the first six weeks has revived calls from political progressives to put more justices on the court beyond the nine set by tradition since 1869. The so-called “court packing” tactic first threatened in the 1930s New Deal era gained favor among the political left a few years ago as former President Donald Trump place three conservative/libertarian justices on the court.

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Ohio Politicians Pay Their Respects to Navy Medic Maxton William Soviak Who Died in Kabul Terrorist Attack

Brian Ball

U.S. Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, OH-9, have reacted with grief and tributes to the Sandusky area Navy hospital corpsman killed on Aug. 26 at the Kabul international airport as the American military continues to withdraw troops and civilians from Afghanistan.

The military named sailor Maxton William Soviak as one of 13 American military personnel killed in two terrorist attacks at a hotel and nearby gate of the Kabul airport where American forces and civilians are getting airlifted out in the wake of the Taliban takeover of the southwestern Asian country.

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Ohio GOP Candidates for U.S. Senate, Cincinnati Congressman Rip Biden After Afghan Blasts Kill Marines, Navy Medic

Brian Ball

The deaths of at least 13 American service men and women and 75 civilians in Kabul on Thursday has again sparked even mor criticism of President Joe Biden’s leadershp from several candidates for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate in Ohio as well as a Cincinnati congressman..

Three candidates – J.D. Vance, Mike Gibbons and Jane Timkemin in statements sent to The Ohio Star – called for Biden’s resignation 10 days after the Taliban rolled into Kabul and Afghani provincial capitals as the U.S. military scrambled to evacuate its personnel as well and U.S. and select Afghani civilians.

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GOP Senate Candidate Mike Gibbons Calls for Resignation of President Biden After Fall of Afghanistan

Brian Ball

The rapid collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban and miscalculations during the disorderly withdrawal of American Troops has led U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons to call for the resignation of President Biden.

Congressional Republicans from Ohio also joined the widespread condemnation of the Biden administration’s poor handling of the withdrawal of American troops nearly 20 years after President George W. Bush directed the invasion of the west Asian country in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2011 terror attacks by Islamic extremists trained in that west-central Asian country.

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Feds Nix Ohio Plan to Tying Expanded Medicare Benefits to Work, Training, ‘Engagement’

Brian Ball
Inside DMV, people standing in line

  The Biden administration has squelched a fledgling Ohio program requiring those in their prime working years receiving Medicaid health coverage to get a job to remain covered. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMMS), on Wednesday withdrew approval…

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Ohio’s Senator Portman Boosts Prospects of Infrastructure Bill on Squawk Box, Credits Trump for ‘Stirring Up Debate’

Brian Ball

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) hopes to get the $550 billion Infrastructure & Investment Act legislation before the full Senate next week after the proposed bipartisan legislation recently cleared the committee on a 20-0 vote.

Portman speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box show on Tuesday, lauded the legislation as a way to boost economic productivity while avoiding a rollback of the Trump administration’s signature tax cuts from 2017.

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J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy Author and Early Never Trumper, Likely Candidate for Ohio GOP U.S. Senate Nomination

Jack Windsor

J.D. Vance is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2022 U.S. Senate in Ohio.

“All signs point to J.D. launching a run in the coming months,” a source told the Washington Times.
In a video sent to The Star, Vance appears to be the first high-profile candidate who will not position himself as a Trump Republican – if his views from 2016 and 2017 remain.

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Clevelander Mike Gibbons Announces Statewide Listening Tour in Potential Preparation for Run at U.S. Senate

Jack Windsor

Monday morning Cleveland businessman and 2018 U.S. Senate candidate Mike Gibbons announced a statewide tour during which he will listen to what Ohio voters have to say as he considers a run for office in 2022.

“This listening tour will allow me the opportunity to meet directly with the voters who understand that we can’t afford to send another politician or party insider to Washington. We need to send someone with a business background, who will fight for working-class Ohioans, who’s unafraid to stand up to his own party and who will always tell the truth,” said Gibbons.

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The Ohio Republican Party Chooses Its Next Leader Friday

Jack Windsor

The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) will select its next leader Friday when the State Central Committee (SCC) members cast their votes for chairman.

SCC members will meet in person at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center or join the meeting virtually. The SCC currently has 65 members who are eligible to vote as opposed to their traditional roster of 66 – one seat is vacant. The Ohio GOP leader will be decided by a simple majority vote.

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Former State Rep Who Brought Impeachment Against DeWine Announces Run for Ohio GOP Chair

Jack Windsor

Friday, former Ohio lawmaker John Becker, who represented Ohioans from House District 65 between 2013-2020, announced his candidacy for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP).

The top spot in the Ohio GOP is open after former Chairwoman Jane Timken announced her resignation on February 5 to run for the U.S. Senate.

The Southwestern Ohio Republican declared his candidacy in a letter to the ORP State Central Committee that contained his resume.

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Josh Mandel Announces Another Ohio Senate Run: ‘Sham Impeachment Has Made My Blood Boil’

Jack Windsor

The Ohio Star reported last week on the strong possibility of a Josh Mandel run for the U.S. Senate Seat vacated by Republican Rob Portman.

Wednesday morning Mandel confirmed – he’s in.

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Amy Acton Quits Columbus Foundation, Possible Move to Gear Up for U.S. Senate Run

Jack Windsor

Late last week, several media outlets reported Dr. Amy Acton resigned as Director of Human:Kind – a Columbus Foundation project – a move that feeds speculation she is preparing to run for US Senate in 2022. 

This is the third resignation by Acton in less than a year.

The first was when she left the post of Director at the Ohio Department of Health in June in the middle of the COVID pandemic and amidst rising opposition to the state’s COVID policies – mandates one judge called “arbitrary, unreasonable and oppressive.”

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Timken Leaves Ohio GOP Chairmanship for Likely Run at U.S. Senate

Jack Windsor

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jane Timken announced Friday her immediate resignation as Chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP).  The message came during a spur of the moment meeting of the Ohio Republican Central Committee during which Timken did not say whether she was leaving to pursue a seat in…

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Ohio GOP List of Replacements for Sen. Portman Long but Narrowing

Jack Windsor

Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs after the establishment Republican announced he would not run for re-election in 2022. Portman cited gridlock and more time with family as primary reasons driving his decision to step away from federal politics – ending his 33 year career since his first political job as a legal aid to President George H.W. Bush in 1989.

Following the announcement, the Ohio rumor mill swirled with talk about many prospective Republican replacements.

Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) is a strong Trump advocate and member of the House Freedom Caucus who has represented Ohio in D.C. since 2007. His spokesperson said the congressman was honored by the overwhelming support to run for U.S. Senate but is solely focused on representing Ohio’s Fourth District and would not be running.

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Rob Portman Will Not Seek a Re-Election to the U.S. Senate

Jack Windsor

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) will not seek a third term representing Ohio in Washington. “Today, I am announcing that I have made a decision not to run again in 2022,” said the institutional Republican in a Monday morning press statement.

“This doesn’t mean I’m leaving now – I still have two more years in my term and I intend to use that time to get a lot done.” He said he looks forward to being able to focus all his energy during the remainder of his term on legislation and challenges facing America instead of dividing his efforts to raise money and campaign.

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