Former Ohio Republican Party chair Jane Timken announced Thursday she is running to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) in her state’s 2022 U.S. Senate race.
Timken, who served as the state GOP chair for four years before stepping down in February, released a video statement about her candidacy in which she embraced former President Donald Trump’s America First agenda and bashed former Republican Gov. John Kasich — who spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2020 in favor of now-President Joe Biden — for refusing to support Trump in 2016 or 2020.
“I’m running for the United States Senate to stand up for you, just like when I stood next to President Trump and supported his America First agenda that created jobs and brought manufacturing back to our shores,” Timken said. “As Ohio Republican Party chairman, I cleaned house of the Kasich establishment, who tried to elect Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden”:
I’m running for the U.S. Senate to fight for the Trump agenda, stop socialism dead in its tracks and be a champion for all Ohioans. pic.twitter.com/NUvugG7vEC
— Jane Timken (@JaneyMurph) February 18, 2021
Timken added that she “unified the party and delivered a second, decisive Ohio win for President Trump.” Ohio, a longtime swing state and bellwether for presidential elections, has leaned toward the right in recent years as indicated by Trump’s win in the state by eight points in both 2016 and 2020.
In addition to her video, Timken released a statement about her Senate bid chastising the Biden administration — particularly for its soft-on-China approach and its pursuit of amnesty for the estimated 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the U.S. She warned the country is moving toward socialist policies and that she seeks to be a “conservative disruptor” of such policies.
“I simply can’t sit on the sidelines and watch Biden and the Socialist Left do this to our country, to Ohio workers, to our children,” Timken said in the statement. “So I’m stepping forward to be a conservative disruptor once again, and running for the U.S. Senate to fight for the Trump agenda, stop socialism dead in its tracks and be a champion for all Ohioans.”
Timken is the second notable Republican to enter into what is anticipated to be a “crowded primary field,” as the Hillreported. Former Ohio treasurer and Marine veteran Josh Mandel mounted a campaign for the seat last week after losing to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) by six points in 2012 and dropping out of the same race in 2018, citing family health issues.
Other names being floated for the seat include Mike Gibbons, who just resigned from the Ohio Strong Action super PAC; Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH); and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
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