CINCINNATI (AP) – 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.