Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) says presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump could be a “positive” for his own senatorial campaign.
“In an appearance Thursday in Youngstown, Portman said Trump’s candidacy could be ‘positive in the end’ for his campaign ‘because what I saw here in the valley and around the state was that a lot of people came out to vote for Donald Trump who had never voted for a Republican before,’” reports the Columbus Dispatch.
“Likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the ultimate renegade who plays by his own rules, could mean trouble for the re-election hopes of Sen. Rob Portman, the epitome of the Republican establishment,” writes Jack Torry, Dispatch Washington bureau chief and Laura Bischoff of the Dayton Daily News.
With nearly 65 percent of voters across the country having a negative view of the New York real-estate magnate, Democrats are hopeful if suburban Republicans in Ohio refuse to vote for Trump in November, their absence from the polls could lead to victory for Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in his race against Portman.
According to the Dispatch, Portman’s campaign stated Portman isn’t interested in Trump’s vice president position. Portman campaigned for John Kasich in the GOP primaries.