Now, the second place candidate a fellow conservative, a very pro-trump candidate john mandel and matt doland he s running third right now. there are a couple other leading candidates in the race. but they re getting votes in the crowded field. this makes a difference. the former state party chair at 7. why does that matter? well, when you re in a crowded primary and 26,000 votes and change ahead you see jd vance on the map winning many. the dark red is josh mandel. this lighter red here is jd vance. he s winning a lot, most of the rural counties. that was trump s strength. we know the trump endorsement shot jd vance up in the polls. pulling ahead. if matt doland has a chance here it s only because of this. this is franklin county, columbus, the seat of
County like that, you move over here you re picking up several hundred more votes here. this is how donald trump does it in small town america with jd vance doing it in ohio tonight. in a place where if matt doland was to have an upset he needed to do it down here, the third largest county in the state, hamilton county that is cincinnati. running nar low ahead right now, but if there was to be an establishment strike moment for donald trump this would be at the moment 26% with jd vance leading there. just look this is how if you go back to the presidential race in 2020 see all that red, that s donald trump. that s how he does it. joe biden won in cleveland, won in cincinnati, columbus. joe biden won the three largest counties in ohio but won only seven because donald trump runs it up, jd vance he s at 31%
Comes from senator ted cruz rallying support for former ohio treasurer josh mandel. he is benefited from millions in spending by the conservative group club for growth. if you worry about burn a bridge with president trump. on it when this thing on may 3 at work and looking forward to work with president trump to beat tim ryan and the democrats in november. i think president trump and i will be working together for many years to come. i want to do next and i sit center to fight for america first. former jane missed out on his backing too. but she does have and are currently longtime senator whose position she hopes to fill. definitely gave me a bump. definitely gave a signal to voters to the senator trust should be the next of ohio. the only candidate who never saw to the trump endorsement state senator matt doland.
But still embraces a former president very. a lot of my opponents are looking backwards at 2020 bitter republicans in ohio went to stop the biting crisis and look forward to 2024. without being able to appeal to that republican supporter base or the trump supporter base is there a viable path to winning the primary? quick to make a big assumption there as well. go back to where we started. when voters start looking at what trump did as a republican president what matt doland has done as a republican state senator for ohio, the similarities and policy are striking. on the issues, these candidates are similar. in many ways its abrasive personalities and that is why the trump endorsement became sell them the importance. the former president ignored the wishes of 40 ohio gop officials who signed a letter asking him to stay out of the primary. they were all doing well on an equal footing, competing with each other. competing on the ideas.