On Thursday, GOP Rep. Jim Renacci announced he was leaving the open seat race for governor of Ohio and would challenge Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown instead. Renacci began making noises about switching races almost immediately after presumptive Senate nominee Josh Mandel dropped out of the contest last week, and Renacci reportedly made his choice after talking to Donald Trump's political advisors. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly has been trying to encourage Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance to challenge Brown, the National Journal's Josh Kraushaar says McConnell is fine with Renacci.
Renacci is a wealthy businessman who won what was a competitive seat in the Canton area during the 2010 GOP wave. Renacci, whom Roll Call estimated had a net worth of $31.6 million, had primarily been self-funding his bid for governor. The congressman is close to Trump allies, and he was pitching himself as a Trumpesque outsider who was taking on the establishment. Renacci had barely registered in the few gubernatorial primaries we'd seen, though he may have been able to spend his way into contention against frontrunner Mike DeWine.
Early this week, Renacci declared he would likely switch races if Trump asked him to, so we should expect him to continue his MiniTrump plan. That may not be a bad strategy in a state that swung hard toward Trump in 2016, though if Trump's toxic even in Ohio in November, it won't be hard for Brown to tie Renacci to the White House.
Renacci will have some company in the May primary from another wealthy businessman. Mike Gibbons, who has been running with little fanfare for months, said recently he was willing to spent $5 million of his own money to win. However, it doesn't sound like power players in Ohio or D.C. are impressed with Gibbons.