A special election is coming this week in Ohio due to the sudden retirement of Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH), who resigned from his seat to become the CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commrce, apparently a move up in the world. But the resignation left a mess regarding the special election for Ohio’s 15th congressional district, an area that spreads throughout the southern part of Columbus, a solidly middle-class white area, perfect MAGA territory that Trump has won easily.
Trump knows the dynamic and given that the GOP is supposed to be Trump’s party, he wants to muscle in and assert his control over the party. The problem is that it isn’t necessarily working as well as Trump believed it would, or should, and it is forcing Trump to spend a lot of money on a rather obscure race in order to send a message.
Rather than back two or three of the area heroes, people experienced in government and business in the area, people with perfect scores from various Republican “freedom” organizations, well-known, and well-qualified candidates, Trump is supporting a Trump guy and his rationale seem obvious, according to the HuffPo:
Trump and his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski [1] have instead endorsed coal industry lobbyist Mike Carey. Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Action, has poured more than $400,000 [2] into TV ads and other paid communications on Carey’s behalf.
One-hundred thousand into a primary for a Republican House position? This isn’t about getting someone elected, this is about showing who is boss. In total, Trump’s PAC has now invested $413,881 to win the GOP primary in a district he carried by 14% points in 2020 and 15% points in 2016 and is almost surely going to a blood-red Republican anyway.
“It’s going to be a measurement of the value of Donald Trump’s endorsement,” said Jeff Fix, chairman of the suburban Fairfield County Republican Party, which has endorsed LaRe.
Trump has to know this and seems like he’s in a bit of a panic. If Mike Corey doesn’t win, it will be a sign to the country that Trump’s endorsement isn’t necessarily required and, perhaps in some cases, can backfire, which would hurt Trump almost as much as the investigations. He cannot lose control of this party.
Rarely is there is ever so much riding on one primary – among 11 people – and yet Trump made such a stand early after his loss that he would be the party kingmaker from now on, this is a huge test. If he loses… the king-maker title might be up for grabs.
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