VANDALIA, Ohio — After nearly two years of campaigning, Ohio’s closely watched U.S. Senate race between Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan will likely come to a close on Tuesday night.
The race has stayed close enough in the final days that former President Donald Trump returned for his third rally of the cycle to give Vance one last boost.
“He’ll bring the toughness and intellectual firepower we need to champion our movement and our values in the U.S. Senate,” Trump told a crowd gathered at Dayton International Airport.
Trump spent most of the Monday night rally in Vandalia teasing a 2024 run and going after his critics, all while his Trump-branded private plane served as a backdrop.
But he and Vance also used the platform to lay into Ryan, who has surprised political watchers by keeping his race against Vance close – in a state Trump won twice by eight points.
In a speech before Trump arrived, Vance told those gathered that his opponent “is a rubber stamp for the failed Joe Biden agenda.”
Vance started his Monday with events in Northern Ohio. At stops in Avon and Perrysburg, Vance delivered his usual stump speech about securing the southern border and arguing Ryan has campaigned as a false moderate.
Vance supporters in Avon said they like that he’s a first-time candidate.
“I think it’s very important for us to have people that represent us in the government that aren’t government inbreds,” a man named Greg, who lives in Avon Lake and declined to share his last name, told Spectrum News.
Attendees also said they like that Vance has converted from being a Trump critic to a Trump loyalist.
“People realize how much Trump was a positive influence on us, and the ideas that Trump had. I think JD is going to be going, hopefully, a little bit in that direction,” said a woman named Donna, who lives in Sheffield Lake and also declined to share her last name.
In between campaign stops, Vance told Spectrum News that the Trump base has been one of the toughest blocks of voters for him to get through to, even with the former president’s endorsement.
“They don’t watch a lot of the traditional TV networks, and so traditional TV advertising doesn’t quite reach them in the same way,” Vance said. “So we’ve had to be innovative, I think, about how to make sure we’re on the ground, turning out our base.”
He also said his campaign has made a point to connect with suburban women voters.
On Sunday, Ryan, the Democratic nominee, campaigned in Northeast Ohio.
The 10-term congressman rallied with voters in Medina and Cleveland.
In Medina, some attendees said they think Ryan’s strategy of campaigning as a moderate Democrat is smart in a state like Ohio.
“I don’t think the center’s bad. I think that the country, and our state, need unity,” said Jen Myers, who lives in Wadsworth.
Mike Oliver, who also lives in Wadsworth, told Spectrum News: “I hear everybody say, ‘Man, I wish he would campaign as more of a progressive.’ I haven’t heard anybody say, ‘I’m not voting for him because he's not progressive enough.’”
Before his campaign bus headed for Medina, Ryan spoke with reporters in Gahanna and explained one of his goals is to win back the voters who used to support Democrats, but then drifted toward Republicans over the last few years.
“I think there’s a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump who are going to be voting for me,” Ryan told Spectrum News. “And their issues that are important to them are the issues I agreed with Trump on.”
The shadow of Trump has loomed large over this race since the moment it started.
For very different reasons, Ryan and Vance are hoping to win over enough Trump supporters to clinch this Senate race that is being watched nationally.