VANDALIA, Ohio — President Donald Trump rallied behind Republicans in competitive races for Ohio Senate and governor Saturday, predicting the party would defy expectations amid a turbulent midterm election.
“I think we’re in for a big surprise, because they don’t know what’s going on,” Trump said on stage in a high school gymnasium near Dayton.
“Get out and vote,” Trump added. “If you do this, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big. And we’re going to shove this up their asses.”
The visit, part of what White House officials told NBC News would be a visit to at least 17 states by Nov. 3, was aimed at bolstering incumbent Sen. Jon Husted and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican Party’s nominee for governor.
Trump, who won Ohio three times by comfortable margins, opened his speech by praising both before moving on to broader remarks promoting himself and his administration. He also offered his support to local Rep. Mike Turner and several House candidates in attendance, including Derek Merrin, the Republican running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio.
Husted’s attempt to retain the Senate seat — to which he was appointed after J.D. Vance was elected vice president — has particularly become a point of concern among Republicans in Ohio and Washington. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo that Husted’s past enthusiasm for building data centers was hurting his campaign. Others expressed concern that Husted, who has long wanted to become governor, had not put his heart into the race.
The battle is one of the costliest and most competitive Senate races in the country this fall. Along with a handful of other key contests, the matchup between Husted and Brown could determine partisan control of the chamber. This week, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, pumped another $14 million into Ohio to support Husted, bringing the group’s investment in the state to $93 million.
“Senator Jon Husted votes to put Ohio first, and he votes all the time,” Trump said before recounting his conversations with Thune and others: “They think he’s phenomenal.”
The high school gymnasium where Trump spoke Saturday night was a smaller venue than usual for his rallies. The Butler High School Aviators home field can accommodate up to 5,000 people. There were several expanses of empty seats in the upper stands when Trump took the stage — and many more when he finished speaking 93 minutes later.
In Ohio and elsewhere, Republicans are grappling with how to win at a time when polls show Trump and the war in Iran are highly unpopular and voters most loyal to Trump may stay home because he is not on the ballot.
“As a lifelong Republican who has voted in every election since I was 18 and in every primary election as a Republican, I have real concerns about voting for Trump every four years,” Nick Owens, former chairman of the Republican Party in Brown County, Ohio, and a former member of the State Board of Education, told NBC News last month. “I’m really concerned that these voters just won’t come to the polls. »
Trump explicitly acknowledged this dynamic Saturday and repeated an argument he made on the campaign trail this fall.
“When I run, we win,” Trump said. “But for some reason, when I don’t show up, they attract 44 percent fewer people. So what I’m going to do is ask you to pretend that I’m showing up, because if we do, and if you attract people, you’re going to win, and we’re going to win big.”
Husted, speaking to reporters before the rally, described Trump as a unique asset in his race.
“Well, he won Ohio by 11 points in the last election, and if we get those same voters to turn out in this election, we’ll win,” Husted said.
Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the Ohio GOP, told NBC News the rally was “extremely important” in efforts to motivate these low-propensity, Trump-loyal voters.
“We know in Ohio that if we bring together the same electorate as we did in 2024, we will win every race,” Triantafilou said in an interview. “No one speaks to this crowd better than President Trump.”
Saturday’s rally included an appearance by Jon Gruden, the former NFL coach who years ago was a teammate of Husted’s on the University of Dayton football team.
“Jon Husted is much more than my friend,” an animated Gruden told the audience. “He was a great player. … He would never give up on you or anyone.”
Trump marveled at Husted’s football years, which he said he didn’t know about until he heard about them from Gruden.
“Nobody told me you were a great athlete,” Trump said, before attacking his Democratic rival: “And Brown wasn’t, he wasn’t an athlete. This guy can’t tie his shoes.”
For its part, on Saturday, Brown’s team sent out a mobile billboard linking Husted’s support for the war in Iran to rising gas prices in Dayton and on streets near the rally.
“Jon Husted has turned his back on working families – he only cares about his billionaire friends and special interests,” Brown said in a campaign statement.
Ohio is also home to what polls show is a tight race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, a physician who served as state health director under DeWine. Ohioans haven’t elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years, but at a time when high prices are a major voter concern, questions are being raised about billionaire Ramaswamy’s appeal, particularly in rural areas of the state.
Ramaswamy, like Husted, addressed the crowd at the start of the rally, and Trump invited both back on stage during his speech for additional remarks. Trump introduced Ramaswamy by highlighting how he briefly ran against him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“He was a bad guy,” Trump said of Ramaswamy. “But you know what? He was smart. He loves the state. He actually has a big heart.”
Compared to Husted, Ramaswamy was otherwise less central to Trump’s remarks. Trump, for example, criticized Senate Democrats who this week blocked Husted’s Taxpayer Protection Act, which aims to curb rising utility costs associated with power-hungry data centers.
Republicans, Trump said, are “taking historic steps to ensure Big Tech data centers benefit local communities.”
Trump then made the argument in favor of data centers, despite concerns that it could be a losing issue for Husted.
“We want them,” Trump said. “Look, there’s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can’t just turn them off. They’ll go to China.”
Trump also recited the lyrics to Al Wilson’s 1968 song “The Snake” — a recurring, audience-favorite passage in his rally speeches — with a new, localized twist. Trump dedicated the song, which he uses as an allegory to the trusted communities that welcome immigrants, in nearby Springfield, Ohio.
The city became a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election after Trump repeated the unsubstantiated and racist claim that the city’s Haitian immigrants ate dogs and pets.
At another point, the crowd began chanting “four more years” for the term-limited president.
“I would love to do the thing for four more years,” Trump responded teasingly before suggesting the press would exaggerate his remarks.
“We’re driving them absolutely crazy,” Trump said, referring to the media. “But I like doing it. I like being with you. I really do.”
Gn usa
