Trump plans J.D. Vance endorsement in crowded Ohio Senate race, sources say

Former President Donald Trump plans to endorse J.D. Vance in Ohio's crowded Senate Republican primary, according to three sources with knowledge of his decision. In recent days, Trump has begun calling donors and advisers to get their opinions on endorsing the “Hillbilly Elegy” author, but he held off under intense pressure from the rival Republican campaigns of Josh Mandel and Jane Timken, sources said. "The Mandel people hit the roof," one Republican with knowledge of the discussions told NBC News, noting that Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan tried to dissuade Trump from the endorsement. The May 3 primary is winner-take-all — meaning the candidate with the plurality of votes moves on to the general election in November. Though Trump’s press shop had already written up an endorsement of Vance, a source close to Mandel’s campaign said Thursday that it threw up a last-minute obstacle for the former president to consider: an internal Republican poll conducted by Mandel’s campaign showing that, with Trump’s endorsement, its candidate would be in front with 33 percent of the vote, followed by Matt Dolan and Mike Gibbons tied at 15 percent, with Vance and Timken both at 9 percent. The poll showed that, even with Trump's endorsement, Vance would rise to 15 percent support but was still in a three-way tie for second, with Mandel marginally in the lead at 19 percent — a sign that Trump's endorsement had weight but was not determinative. A spokesperson for Trump could not be reached for comment. Trump has been concerned with Vance, who criticized the former president bitterly in 2016. Vance is also running in about third or fourth place in recent public polling and has barely cracked double digits — a major worry for Trump, who doesn’t want to waste his endorsement, the sources said. Dolan is the only candidate who is running on a platform that does not seem to be courting the support of the former president. That has bothered Trump immensely and has pushed him to want to pick a winner to ensure that a non-Trump acolyte doesn't win a state that he won handily in 2020 and 2016. In public polling, Mandel and Gibbons lead the pack with roughly 20 percent of the vote each. Visit us for more information: http://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/index.html