Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to the Youngstown area this weekend in support of Ohio Republican JD Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), whose district includes Youngstown.
“It is important that the people of Ohio send JD Vance to the U.S. Senate this year,” the Florida chief executive, whose mother is from Youngstown, told an audience at the Metroplex Expo Center in Girard. “Yes, Republicans need to take back the majority, and I think we will. But just as important as having the majority, we need people who are willing to go up there and do something with the majority; stop talking and actually get something done. And I think JD is somebody who’s going to be a leader and not just be a follower and we need that in that swamp more than ever.”
Ohio is largely considered a battleground for control of the currently evenly divided U.S. Senate, a chamber that Democrats run by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie-breaking vote. The national conservative nonprofit Turning Point Action hosted the Girard event to bolster Vance’s campaign with some of the strength the Sunshine State’s popular governor has gained over his years in office. Considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate by many observers, DeSantis is currently running for reelection to the Florida governorship, leading in every major poll against U.S. Representative Charlie Crist (D-FL-13).
DeSantis ascribed his popularity to his aggressive pursuit of center-right priorities on education, medical freedom and election integrity as well as his successful economic record. He noted that his state added 70,000 private-sector jobs in July despite the United States having officially reentered a recession.
The attorney, venture capitalist and author, who grew up in Middletown just north of Cincinnati, told attendees that the Ohio Senate race is a clash between his own vision of economic opportunity and Ryan’s largely progressive agenda that syncs up with that of President Joe Biden.
One issue on which he contrasted his own views sharply with Ryan’s was immigration. Vance tied the matter to the opioid epidemic by noting the significant amount of illegal-drug movement that transpires via the southern border.
“My family’s been affected by the opioid problem; I imagine a lot of families have been affected by it,” Vance said. “And we know that the reason why we have a record number of people dying from this terrible poison is because Joe Biden and Tim Ryan have turned the southern border into the world’s capital of drug trafficking. They did this, ladies and gentleman.”
Vance further distinguished himself from his opponent on several other issues, noting his endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police and his opposition to vaccine mandates.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to throw this guy [Ryan] out, not give him a promotion.”
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ron DeSantis at Turning Point Action” by Max Morgan.
