Breitbart is reporting a clean sweep for all 22 Trump-backed candidates in Tuesday's Ohio and Indiana primaries. In the industrial Midwest, at least, Trump's backing is enough to sway GOP primary voters to his choices.
By far the highest-profile race Tuesday was the Ohio GOP Senate primary, where a crowded field sought the nod to replace retiring senator Rob Portman as the Republican nominee. In that race, J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, had been in the middle of the field until he obtained Trump's endorsement, and with his backing, Vance came out on top.
Here are the results at this hour for the Republican and Democrat Senate primaries from the Ohio secretary of state:
One notable feature of Trump's endorsement of Vance is that Vance had early on said some very unkind things about Trump. After seeing Trump in office, he repudiated those views. Still, Trump's ability to get over the earlier insults tends to belie his reputation as thin-skinned.
Trump and Vance at a rally in Delaware, Ohio, 4/23/22.
YouTube screen grab (cropped).
Democrat Congressman Tim Ryan easily won the Democrats' nomination, creating another race worth keeping an eye on, in his former District, Ohio 13. There, Trump's endorsee, Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, beat six other candidates. Gilbert, 30 years old and a former beauty queen, has had a relatively high media presence in recent years and is highly articulate. She will face off against Emily Sykes, a state rep since 2015, and the heir to a local political dynasty that has represented the area for the last 40 years.
Emily Sykes (left) and Madison Gesiotto Gilbert (right) via Twitter.
