WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former President Donald Trump has still not endorsed a candidate in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race.

His support could be the deciding factor in what’s become a fiercely competitive Republican primary.

As most of the GOP field vies for Trump’s endorsement, a Spectrum News analysis found that at least nine former Trump aides are working for Republican candidates in the race.

On Tuesday, Kellyanne Conway formally joined Jane Timken’s campaign as a senior strategist.

Conway, who became famous for managing Trump’s 2016 campaign and following him to the White House as a senior counselor, is now a sought after political adviser.

“They each want to have very good, high level advisory positions on those campaigns and to be able to take credit, should their candidate win the primary,” said David Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron.

Cohen said this level of involvement proves how important Ohio’s race is to determining which party controls the Senate next year and how influential Trump remains as a party leader.

“In the 20 years that I have been observing Ohio congressional elections, I’ve never seen a race like this become nationalized,” Cohen said.

Timken, the former chair of the Ohio GOP, was not Conway’s first choice.

She first worked for Bernie Moreno’s campaign, but the luxury car dealer dropped out earlier this month after meeting with Trump.

Businessman Mike Gibbons has six former Trump aides on his payroll, including Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien and deputy campaign manager Justin Clark, who both joined the team last week.

Author J.D. Vance has hired two former Trump aides, including Trump’s longtime pollster, Tony Fabrizio. Additionally, a super PAC backing Vance is being funded by Peter Thiel, a GOP billionaire with close ties to Trump.

And though former state treasurer Josh Mandel does not have any Trump aides working on his campaign, the conservative group Club for Growth is supporting him, and its leader, David McIntosh, is a Trump ally.

“People are going to be looking for those opportunities and they happen to be in one place,” said Capri Cafaro, a former Ohio state senator who now teaches at American University in Washington.

She said while it’s common for high-profile political aides to get involved in big-time races, this could also be an effort by the candidates to prove their support for Trump, while trying to earn his.

“I would suspect that the competition is really amongst those Republican primary candidates looking to find a way to align themselves with that Trump orbit because it curries political capital in Ohio,” Cafaro said.

State Sen. Matt Dolan is the only GOP candidate not tying himself to former Trump aides. He’s also the only Republican candidate not embracing Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

Trump has already said he won’t endorse Dolan.

While former Trump aides are also involved in Senate races in Missouri, Pennsylvania and Colorado, Ohio currently tops the list for having the most.

It’s another sign of Trump’s influence on this race in a state he won twice and remains very popular in.