As state and national Republican operatives were reeling from the stunning announcement late Friday afternoon that State Treasurer Josh Mandel was abandoning his bid for the U.S. Senate next year, a grim realization was setting in throughout the Buckeye State GOP: that their chances of unseating Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown were fading away.
"I was shocked by the news about this," Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, told Newsmax, referring to Mandel's statement that his abrupt exit from the race was due to an undisclosed health issue his wife Ilana was facing, "I'm praying for both Josh and his wife."
Dubbed the "American Netanyahu" by admirers, U.S. Marine Reserve Sgt. Mandel is, at 40, one of his party's brightest stars in Ohio. Elected to the Lyndhurst City Council at 26, he moved to the state legislature three years later, and won the office of state treasurer in 2010. Two years later, he lost a heated Senate race to Brown by a margin of 51 percent to 45 percent.
In July of last year, a PPD Buckeye State Battleground Poll showed Mandel leading Brown by a margin of 50 percent to 42 percent in a state where President Donald Trump beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with 52 percent.
His departure leaves the GOP primary to two little-known contenders: Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons and Melissa Atkinson of Columbus, whose troubles with Obamacare were highlighted by President Trump.
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