OH-Club for Growth (R): Mandel with big lead...

[MT Treasurer]

...in the GOP primary.

60% Josh Mandel (R)
12% Pat Tiberi (R)

62% Josh Mandel (R)
8% Matt Huffman (R)

Mandel favorability: 59/7 (+52)

The poll is the first public survey in the Ohio GOP primary race for the Senate seat, currently held by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Live interviewers called 600 self-identified likely GOP primary voters on Dec. 11-12. Excerpts of the poll were provided exclusively to cleveland.com. (Scroll down to read the excerpts in their entirety.)

Only Mandel officially has declared his candidacy for the seat. However, Tiberi, an ally of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, for months has been working behind the scenes toward a Senate run, and Huffman, who was elected to the Ohio Senate in November, is considering his own bid.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/12/early_poll_shows_josh_mandel_w.html

[Heisenberg]

You beat me to posting this, my friend.

Hopefully there's no primary showdown. If Huffman wants to go to Washington he should primary Jim Jordan.

[Xing]

If I were a Republican, I'd probably be hoping for someone else to get in the race. Rematches have generally not worked out so well for the loser, in recent cases.

[Figueira]

If I were a Republican, I'd probably be hoping for someone else to get in the race. Rematches have generally not worked out so well for the loser, in recent cases.

Yeah, this poll is probably good news for Democrats, except there might be better candidates than Huffman and Tiberi.

[Maxwell]

Can anyone say Name Recognition?

[Young Conservative]

You beat me to posting this, my friend.

Hopefully there's no primary showdown. If Huffman wants to go to Washington he should primary Jim Jordan.

Jim Jordan would never lose.

[Heisenberg]

You beat me to posting this, my friend.

Hopefully there's no primary showdown. If Huffman wants to go to Washington he should primary Jim Jordan.

Jim Jordan would never lose.

Ohio is set to lose a seat next Census. I think his should be dismantled.

[BuckeyeNut]

Jordan's district is some BS, as Lorain County should definitely not be split between three members of Congress. But on topic: Huffman, whoever he is, would get creamed by Mandel. Tiberi may be hurting for want of name recognition, but the OH GOP is in for some ugliness. This primary looks like it's going to turn into a proxy battle between Kasich and Trump. Kasich and his brand are obviously popular here, but Trump did better than expected in the general. (Winning Ohio was pretty much a given, but I was personally expecting by no more than 5.)

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

You beat me to posting this, my friend.

Hopefully there's no primary showdown. If Huffman wants to go to Washington he should primary Jim Jordan.

Jim Jordan would never lose.

Jordan has a reputation for being a Ted Cruz-level prick, is a weak campaigner, and has never had the best relationship with the faction currently controlling the state Republican party.  He'd be favored, but Huffman could potentially pull it off, especially in an anti-Trump political climate.  I doubt he runs against Jordan though.

[BuckeyeNut]

You beat me to posting this, my friend.

Hopefully there's no primary showdown. If Huffman wants to go to Washington he should primary Jim Jordan.

Jim Jordan would never lose.

Jordan has a reputation for being a Ted Cruz-level prick, is a weak campaigner, and has never had the best relationship with the faction currently controlling the state Republican party.  He'd be favored, but Huffman could potentially pull it off, especially in an anti-Trump political climate.  I doubt he runs against Jordan though.

I agree with this to some degree, but counterpoint: He did get Warren elected in the 8th to replace Boehner. It looks like he is building better team-cred.

[DavidB.]

I love Mandel but am not sure if he's the right candidate for the GOP. Gives me a Murphy impression tbh.

[SATW]

I love Mandel but am not sure if he's the right candidate for the GOP. Gives me a Murphy impression tbh.

he had his murphy moment in 2012. he'll break out this time!

[Kingpoleon]

The Club for Growth is biased towards the Tea Party...

I love Mandel but am not sure if he's the right candidate for the GOP. Gives me a Murphy impression tbh.

he had his murphy moment in 2012. he'll break out this time!

I would have thought you would prefer Tiberi to Mandel.

[SATW]

The Club for Growth is biased towards the Tea Party...

I love Mandel but am not sure if he's the right candidate for the GOP. Gives me a Murphy impression tbh.

he had his murphy moment in 2012. he'll break out this time!

I would have thought you would prefer Tiberi to Mandel.

I'm actually not a fan of Tiberi due to some differences on economic issues but I'd support either in the general, obviously. A big part of why I am backing Mandel is to stick it to Kasich for being such a twit this year on almost everything.

[Rjjr77]

Tiberi has seen the writing on the wall before this and probably won't run. Donald trump winning the election may have made him Ohio's biggest loser as he was a loud not trump republican and a Kasich ally. Considering Kasich is a dead republican walking at this phase it's bad for Tiberius.

Sen. Matt Huffman could be an intriguing candidate, well liked among money circles, conservative, and without the baggage of Mandel.

[Green Line]

I thought that Mandel lost by a lot more in 2012, but I just looked it up and it was still moderately close.  I guess I'm ok with him again.  It really all hinges on Trump anyway.  If he's a disaster (likely), Mandel is screwed.  If he's about even nationally, Brown will go down.

[BuckeyeNut]

Timken's ousting of Borges w/in the OH GOP could well mean the Republican primary goes uncontested.

[Rjjr77]

The Timken factor could make all the statewide GOP primaries a bit different

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Timken's ousting of Borges w/in the OH GOP could well mean the Republican primary goes uncontested.

Maybe, but it'll also probably mean a weaker Republican ticket and certainly will mean a weaker state party.  At the least, there'll be a contested gubernatorial primary.

[Rjjr77]

Timken's ousting of Borges w/in the OH GOP could well mean the Republican primary goes uncontested.

Maybe, but it'll also probably mean a weaker Republican ticket and certainly will mean a weaker state party.  At the least, there'll be a contested gubernatorial primary.

I don't think Timken means a weaker party at all. She's a bundler with big money connections. She'll increase party funding by herself. considering that many republicans felt that trump (and his coat tails) won Ohio inspite of Borges I don't think they will see much drop. The bench is deep in Ohio for republicans, they'll have a lot of money, I don't think Timken weakens the party at all.