Trump endorsement casts long shadow over Ohio Senate race

Since becoming Donald Trump’s handpicked state party chair in 2017, Jane Timken has straddled the line between Ohio’s traditional GOP and MAGA spheres.

Now, as she bids for the Republican Senate nomination, Timken is still betting she can have it both ways. It’s a risky wager.

Timken’s continued touting of her endorsement from retiring Sen. Rob Portman, an old-school Republican whose brand of statesmanship and bipartisan compromise is nearly the opposite of Trump’s approach, could jeopardize her chances of winning the former president’s endorsement in a crowded primary where it looms large.

“She has to do a pretty effective juggling act to make those issues sound like they square,” said Doug Preisse, a Republican strategist and former chair of the Franklin County Republican Party, referring to Timken’s invocation of both Portman and Trump on the campaign trail. “She’s a smart, accomplished professional. But when you’re communicating two or three contradictory sounding messages, it doesn’t matter how good of a communicator you are.”

A Harvard-educated attorney who married into a wealthy family of global steel manufacturers, Timken has closely toed the MAGA line since joining the race a year ago. After initially defending GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez for his vote to impeach Trump last year, she turned around and renounced her support for the embattled congressman, then called for him to resign.

More recently, Timken hired lightning-rod Trump world advisers who have generated controversy within the party. And in a new ad Thursday, Timken decried the “pretenders” in the Senate primary, flashing photos of herself with Trump as a narrator called her “the real Trump conservative.”

At the same time, Timken, a longtime friend of Portman, has enthusiastically embraced the retiring senator’s support. As her campaign scrambles to set itself apart in a packed field of Republicans purporting to be the most authentically MAGA, it’s caused some awkward dissonance.

Portman voted to certify the election results, something Timken said she wouldn’t have done. He championed the bipartisan infrastructure bill, while Timken bashed it. Describing the events of Jan. 6 as “an attack on democracy itself,” Portman excoriated Trump, saying the president “showed sympathy for the violent mob” and bore some responsibility for what took place.

On Tuesday, the Timken campaign performed its balancing act again. It sent out a press release announcing the hiring of Corey Lewandowski — who was let go from Trump’s super PAC this fall after facing allegations of sexual assault","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/01/trump-donor-unwanted-sexual-advances-corey-lewandowski-514941","_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac20008","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac20009","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">allegations of sexual assault — and David Bossie, a former Trump campaign official who was behind a recent RNC resolution","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/05/trump-midterms-republicans-salt-lake-00005867","_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000a","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000b","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">behind a recent RNC resolution declaring that the events surrounding Jan. 6 amounted to “legitimate political discourse.”

Then, hours later, the campaign put out another announcement: Portman would headline their campaign stops this weekend.

Trumpworld noticed.

“If you’re attempting to go after grassroots voters that are frustrated with the political process, that are frustrated with career politicians, that want some new blood — usually you don’t go campaigning with a career politician that’s retiring,” said a person in Trump’s orbit who is familiar with the former president’s thinking.

Timken’s GOP opponents Josh Mandel, Mike Gibbons and JD Vance have all made a determined effort to win the Trump endorsement, while Matt Dolan is seeking to appeal to moderate Republicans who are less sold on Trump.

The Trump ally described Timken’s hiring of Lewandowski and Bossie as “a sign of desperation” and a way to “throw money at” the exercise of securing an endorsement from the former president.

Trump held separate meetings recently with Mandel and Vance. Last week, Gibbons paid to attend a fundraising event for Trump’s super PAC at Mar-a-Lago, though he did not gain a one-on-one meeting.

In response to a request for comment for this story, Timken’s campaign did not answer specific questions but instead provided a statement about the support she has received.

“In 2017, Jane was proudly endorsed by President Trump to lead the Ohio Republican Party where she unified a fractured party to make it bigger and stronger than ever before,” said Mandi Merritt, a Timken spokesperson. “Jane is a candidate of addition, not subtraction, and that’s why you see everyone from Senator Rob Portman to Kellyanne Conway, Senator Joni Ernst to [House GOP Conference Chair] Elise Stefanik, and over 180 Ohio conservative leaders supporting her campaign.”

Trump is expected to “eventually” make a decision on who to endorse in the Ohio primary, which is now two months away. But no decision is imminent, said the person familiar.

Dueling internal polls have shown the primary’s top five candidates in a range of positions in recent months. While January polling from Timken","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.janetimkenforohio.com/2022/01/07/momentum-for-jane-timken-increases-as-u-s-senate-race-now-statistically-tied/","_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000c","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000d","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">polling from Timken’s campaign put her in second place, just behind Mandel, in recent weeks independent polls have put Timken at the back of the pack.

The Emerson poll, conducted this past weekend, found that 39 percent of GOP primary voters remained undecided in the Senate race. It also suggested that Portman’s endorsement may not provide a significant boost for Timken with primary voters: 38 percent said the senator’s endorsement made them less likely to vote for her, while 43 percent said it would make no difference.

Portman’s office declined to answer questions about whether he has any concerns with Timken’s hiring of Lewandowski and Bossie — or if the senator would mind campaigning alongside them. Instead, a Portman spokesperson provided a general statement about Timken being “the best candidate to advance conservative Republican policies” and having the ability to win both the primary and general election.

While Timken is scheduled to campaign again this month with former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik — a key member of a Trump command centerthat worked to overturn the 2020 election results","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/willard-trump-eastman-giuliani-bannon/2021/10/23/c45bd2d4-3281-11ec-9241-aad8e48f01ff_story.html","_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000e","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"0000017f-6495-d1e9-a1ff-f4fdcac2000f","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}"> that worked to overturn the 2020 election results — it’s unlikely Portman will share the stage with some of Trump’s top acolytes.

“Rob Portman gets to decide when he will campaign, and with whom he will campaign,” said Mark Weaver, an Ohio Republican strategist.

Weaver, who worked on Portman’s first Senate race, predicts Timken’s embrace of the two-term senator will boost her campaign. Even in the absence of recent public polling about Portman’s favorability, Weaver said Portman remains popular with Republicans in the state.

“Jane Timken is comfortable with establishment Republicans who make up a faction of our party, and with strong Trump Republicans who also are an important faction of our party, and that’s been true since becoming party chair,” he said.