Dolan Joins Crowded, Trump-Dominated GOP Field for Ohio Senate

(Bloomberg) -- Ohio state Senator Matt Dolan joined a crowded Republican primary field to replace retiring U.S. Senator Rob Portman Monday, taking up the centrist mantle in a race that has been dominated by candidates’ fealty to former President Donald Trump.

“After meeting with Republicans, conservative activists and community leaders across Ohio in recent weeks, it’s clear that the focus of the race for U.S. Senate has yet to be about our people, our interests, and our beloved state,” Dolan, 56, whose family owns the Cleveland Indians, said in a statement announcing his candidacy.

So far, the leading candidates -- including former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel; venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance; Jane Timken, a former Ohio Republican Party chairwoman; and Ohio businessmen Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno -- have been rushing to woo Trump’s supporters and win his endorsement with increasingly conservative and populist messages.

Dolan is making a more centrist appeal. While the leading GOP Senate candidates have all followed Trump’s lead in criticizing the bipartisan $550 billion infrastructure bill that Portman helped negotiate, for example, Dolan supported the measure because of the funding it would bring for the Brent Spence Bridge and other needed Ohio projects.

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