Senate candidates swing through Findlay

Voters in Findlay/Hancock County started the new year being courted by U.S. Senate hopefuls from both sides of the aisle. On Tuesday, Republican candidate Josh Mandel was back in town. On Friday, both Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican Bernie Moreno made stops. Moreno said northwest Ohio is likely to be a frequent stop by candidates in the race, particularly GOP candidates. "I believe the Republican nomination will be decided in northwest Ohio because it's so heavily Republican," said Moreno. Moreno, 54, a luxury car dealer from Cleveland, has already made the trip to northwest Ohio several times. On Friday, his campaign made a stop at the Hancock County GOP First Friday Luncheon, held at Moose Lodge, 1028 W. Main Cross St. Ironically enough, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) was just a few blocks away in Findlay's downtown, attending a meet and greet at Coffee Amici, 328 S. Main St., as part of his "Workers First Tour." Mandel is running his campaign through churches, not the traditional Republican Party, by hosting "Faith & Freedom" rallies throughout the state. In July, he hosted a rally at Findlay's First Church of the Nazarene, 2501 Broad Ave. "It was great to be back in Findlay this week speaking to a Bible study group at Buffalo Trading Company about our shared values of faith and freedom," said Mandel. Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman announced in January 2021 that he would not seek a third term. There are currently 20 candidates registered with the Federal Election Commission for the seat, including 12 Republicans, five Democrats, two independents and one candidate whose party affiliation is listed only as "write-in." The filing deadline for the election is Feb. 2. Primary elections will be held May 3, and the general election will be held Nov. 8. Moreno's literally counting the days until voting starts in the GOP primary. Early in-person voting begins April 5 and includes the Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day. The deadline to register to vote in the election is April 4. "That's right around the corner," he said. Moreno said many "issues of the day are being lived out every day right here in northwest Ohio." With the Interstate 75 corridor, both drug trafficking and human trafficking are local issues, as is the "shift of the industrial base to China" and the workforce shortage, he said. "People here know these issues, because they are living it," he said. "The Republican Party used to be an anti-labor party, and the Democrats were the labor party, but that's changed. Now, the Democrats are the party of the extreme left and Republicans are the party of the worker." He blames the lack of solutions, on many fronts, on a lack of leadership in Washington, D.C. He said more money and more effort needs to be focused on creating incentives for young people to pursue a career in the trades and skilled labor, and to remove the stigma of "not going to college." He said the focus at the federal level has been just the opposite. Moreno, who immigrated from South America to the United States at the age of five, said he studied the design and function of the U.S. government, and he's lived the American Dream. Now he feels he must help protect it. "That's what motivated me to run. I understand what made America special. The government was designed so that people who have lived out their lives under the government's policies can one day go into government and put new policies in place, and then go home," said Moreno. "I firmly support term limits in Washington, D.C., because the people who stay there, who have only lived in D.C., live in a crazy bubble, and don't understand what it's like to live under the rules of our government." In announcing the "Workers First Tour," the "Tim Ryan for Ohio" campaign said he has pledged to fight for workers across Ohio, and the tour was launched specifically to hear about their challenges. So far, Ryan has been endorsed by about two dozen labor unions statewide and the Ohio AFL-CIO. Ryan, the Democratic front-runner in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, visited Highland, Hamilton, Clermont, and Hancock counties last week to talk about his plans to reinvest in Ohio and create more opportunities for workers. Ryan has served as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 13th Congressional District since 2013. He entered Congress in 2003 as a representative of Ohio's 17th congressional district until redistricting. Ohio's 13th Congressional District is located in the northern portion of the state and includes sections of Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties. Mandel served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019 and represented the state's 17th House District from 2007 to 2011. He lost a bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, in 2012. In 2016, Mandel announced plans to challenge Brown again, but withdrew from the race. Grant: 419-427-8412