In last night’s Ohio Senate debate, Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan sparred face-to-face for the first time. Ryan accused Vance, who grew up in Ohio but worked for a stretch in San Francisco, of “parachuting” into Ohio to run for Senate, saying, “You’re from Silicon Valley. You don’t understand what’s going on here in Ohio.”
Both candidates broke from their parties at the debate. Vance didn’t say whether he supported Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposed 15-week federal ban on abortion, but said, “some minimum national standard is totally fine with me.” And Ryan said Biden shouldn’t run for reelection.
The candidates also blasted each other on issues including jobs, China, inflation and former President Donald Trump. The debate came as Vance has struggled to fundraise for his campaign, relying on support from outside groups on the airwaves. Ryan, on the other hand, has raised a lot of money, but has been left out alone by national Democratic groups.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail…
Arizona Senate: Saving Arizona, a GOP super PAC, is booking nearly $1.8 million in ad buys for the middle of October, per AdImpact.
Alaska Senate: A new ad from Republican Kelly Tshibaka’s campaign argues that Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski “changed,” criticizing her for voting for some of President Biden’s priorities like recent gun legislation. And in a statement last night, former President Trump criticized GOP spending in Alaska to boost Murkowski, money he said “could be used for Blake Masters, and other Republicans, that with this money [Republicans] would beat their Democratic opponents.”
Georgia Senate: Georgia Honor, a group tied to the Democratic super PAC Senate Majority PAC, launched a new TV ad highlighting Herschel Walker’s son Christian’s tweet from last week, where he said his father “threatened to kill us, and had us move over six times in six months running from your violence.”
North Carolina Senate: Democrat Cheri Beasley is booking another $1.1 million in ads this week, per AdImpact. Politico also reports that Beasley’s campaign raised $13.3 million in the third fundraising quarter.
Wisconsin Senate: Democrat Mandela Barnes bought another $1.9 million in TV ads in the race, per AdImpact. Barnes’ campaign told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it raised $1.5 million since last week’s debate.
California Governor: California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign is up with a new ad as part of a $3.5 million buy asking voters to back a ballot proposition to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Florida Governor: Casey DeSantis, the wife of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, stars in an emotional new ad in which she recounts how her husband helped take care of her and their children while she was going through cancer treatment. In other news from the trail, the gubernatorial debate initially planned for Wednesday has been postponed until Oct. 24 because of the recent hurricane. And ProPublica investigates DeSantis’ role in the state’s redistricting process.
Michigan Governor: Republican nominee Tudor Dixon spoke to The Detroit News about her campaign with the first debate this Thursday, saying: “This certainly could be the week that things change in our direction in a positive way.” Also, Everytown for Gun Safety booked an $800,000 ad buy over the next two weeks.
Pennsylvania Governor: The New York Times reports on Republican nominee Doug Mastriano’s comments, actions and associations that some critics have referred to as antisemitic.
Michigan-10: Republican John James leads Democrat Carl Marlinga by 8 points, 44% to 36%, in a new poll from The Detroit News and WDIV-TV.
New York-19 The NRCC has booked another $1.3 million in TV ads here, per AdImpact.
Oregon-6: National Journal and Inside Elections report on dueling polls from this new congressional district, with Republican Mike Erickson’s campaign saying his campaign has him leading Democrat Andrea Salinas 44%-39%, and Salinas’ campaign putting her ahead 45%-44%.
Virginia-7: Former Virginia Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman stars in a new ad backing Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger.
