6 candidates for US Senate in Ohio vie for evangelical votes

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — The lone Republican moderate at a U.S. Senate candidate forum in Ohio says that at one point he felt “like a Browns fan in Pittsburgh Stadium.” The crowd of about 950 at the evangelical Genoa Baptist Church north of Columbus never quite booed state Sen. Matt Dolan during the Sunday night forum, but they didn’t embrace him either. The event, sponsored by the Center for Christian Virtue, marked the first time the major candidates had been on the stage together: Dolan, former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, former Republican Party chair Jane Timken, author JD Vance and Cleveland businesspeople Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno.