Trump-backed Jim Renacci wins Ohio primary to face Sen. Sherrod Brown

U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, speaks at a GOP Get Out the Vote rally in Independence, Ohio. Renacci has said he joined the Senate race with White House encouragement, after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel withdrew because of his wife’s health issue. Renacci had been running for governor, while Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons was already in the Senate race.
U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, speaks at a GOP Get Out the Vote rally in Independence, Ohio. Renacci has said he joined the Senate race with White House encouragement, after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel withdrew because of his wife’s health issue. Renacci had been running for governor, while Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons was already in the Senate race. Mark Duncan — The Associated Press file

By Dan Sewell, The Associated Press

President Donald Trump with Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, right, waves during a roundtable discussion on tax cuts at Cleveland Public Auditorium and Conference Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Renacci has said he joined the Senate race with White House encouragement, after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel withdrew because of his wife’s health issue. Renacci had been running for governor, while Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons was already in the Senate race.
President Donald Trump with Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, right, waves during a roundtable discussion on tax cuts at Cleveland Public Auditorium and Conference Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Renacci has said he joined the Senate race with White House encouragement, after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel withdrew because of his wife’s health issue. Renacci had been running for governor, while Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons was already in the Senate race. Manuel Balce Ceneta — The Associated Press file

CINCINNATI >> U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, bolstered by the backing of President Donald Trump, won Tuesday’s Republican primary to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio this fall.

Renacci, 59, is in his fourth term in Congress and is a longtime businessman and former mayor of Wadsworth. He left the governor’s race to campaign for Senate and emerged victorious in a five-way contest.

Also in the race were Cleveland investment banker Mike Gibbons, Marysville small-business owner Melissa Ackison, Cincinnati-area financial management company founder Daniel Kiley and retired public administrator Don Elijah Eckhart, of Galloway.

Renacci said he switched to the Senate race with White House encouragement after Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel withdrew because of his wife’s health. Mandel had lost to Brown in 2012, after Brown unseated then-Sen. Mike DeWine in 2006. Brown was unopposed Tuesday for the Democratic nomination.

Brown, 65, is a former congressman and Ohio secretary of state. He has long fashioned himself as a champion of the working class and taken tough-on-trade positions. He praised Trump’s move this year to increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

Brown’s career in Ohio politics spans four decades.

Renacci featured Trump prominently in his campaign ads, with the president praising Renacci during Ohio visits and endorsing him by tweet last month. Trump posted that he needed Renacci “very badly to help our agenda” and said he “has my full endorsement!”

Gibbons, who raised money for Trump’s presidential campaign and was endorsed by Citizens for Trump, depicted himself as the “conservative outsider” in the race, running a campaign ad showing Trump and pledging to help the president “drain the swamp.”

Gibbons, 66, last week sued Renacci for what he calls false and defamatory statements including that Gibbons is anti-Trump. Renacci’s campaign spokeswoman discounted that lawsuit as “sad and desperate.”

Renacci’s run for Senate opened his 16th District seat, spurring primaries for both major political parties.

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