J.D. Vance, a New York Times best-selling author, is tied for first place in the Ohio GOP Senate primary race, a new poll shows.
The Protect Ohio Values PAC poll, released on Wednesday, finds that Vance has gained four points since February — running at 18 percent and tied with fellow Republicans Mike Gibbons and Josh Mandel, who are also at 18 percent.
Most significant, though, is that the poll shows Gibbons stagnating with 18 percent after having failed to gain any traction since February, whereas Vance and Mandel have each risen to the top of the pack among the five leading candidates.
Meanwhile, Jane Timken, the former chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party, has dropped in the polls from 12 percent in February to just nine percent in March among primary voters. Matt Dolan, a longtime critic of former President Trump, has similarly flatlined. Dolan has gained one percent since February.
The poll had voters watch the PAC’s latest ad for Vance where he outlines a fierce immigration agenda that includes fully funding Trump’s border wall, ending welfare benefits for illegal aliens, and defunding sanctuary jurisdictions.
After voters watched the ad, Vance’s support shot up to 30 percent against Gibbons’ 18 percent and Mandel’s 16 percent. In this scenario, Dolan trails with 12 percent, while Timken stumbles behind with 10 percent.
Vance, in recent weeks, has set out a bold “America First” policy agenda that bucks the state’s big business and political establishment. Notably, Vance refused to meet with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce as Gibbons, Mandel, Timken, and Dolan accepted the invite.
The Chamber of Commerce was an ardent opponent of Trump’s policy initiatives, specifically on immigration and trade. In 2017, the Chamber slammed Trump for cracking down on abuse within the H-1B visa program that routinely outsources Americans’ jobs to foreign visa workers.
In 2018, for instance, the Chamber vowed to fight Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. During the 2020 election, the Chamber endorsed 23 House Democrats against their Republican counterparts even as Trump reportedly urged them to reconsider.
At the latest debate, Vance continued promoting his populist policy vision, endorsing plans to ban members of Congress and their families from trading stocks. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has yet to endorse the plan.
About 63 percent of Americans support banning Congress from trading stocks, including nearly 6-in-10 Republican voters and 64 percent of swing voters.
“It’s a great way to end corruption in this country where you’ve got people like Nancy Pelosi who buy a stock who get rich off of it, who uses their public trust to get wealthy for themselves,” Vance said. “You know who hates that legislation? Well, of course, Nancy Pelosi but also a lot of Republican leaders. If you’re willing to actually challenge the leadership of your own party, the political class in this country, you can get things done.”
The poll was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates and surveyed 800 likely GOP primary voters from March 30 to 31 across Ohio. The margin of error is +/- 3.46 percent.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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