Less than a week before Ohio's May 8 primary, uncertainty surrounds both primaries for the August 7 special election to replace GOP Rep. Pat Tiberi, who resigned in January to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable. Republicans remain locked in a bitter air war between state Sen. Troy Balderson and Liberty Township Trustee Melanie Leneghan, while Democratic Franklin County Recorder Danny O'Connor is seeking to stave off a late surge from the left.
Balderson, a farm and auto businessman who has the backing of Tiberi and the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership, led the GOP pack in fundraising ($290,000 in the first quarter) and is regarded as the "establishment" candidate. But Leneghan, a Trump-style social conservative, is getting late help from Freedom Caucus Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-04) and the Club for Growth, which is running an ad accusing Balderson of voting to "impose Obamacare" on Ohioans.
The GOP field also includes GOP state Sen. Kevin Bacon, Air Force veteran Tim Kane and Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien. But Republican operatives are fearful that a Leneghan nomination would severely jeopardize GOP chances
Subscribe Today
Our subscribers have first access to individual race pages for each House, Senate and Governors race, which will include race ratings (each race is rated on a seven-point scale) and a narrative analysis pertaining to that race.