COLUMBUS, Ohio — The red wave splashed through Ohio on Election Day with statewide Republican candidates coming out on top in their races.
That included J.D. Vance, who edged out his competitor, Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan, after a fierce campaign battle.
“We’ve had a good night in the Ohio Republican Party, haven’t we,” Vance said to the crowd in his victory speech.
But the red wave fell short of sweeping the entire country. And pundits had plenty to say about that following the election. 10TV asked the opinion of Republican consultant Terry Casey.
“In other parts of the country, the wave didn’t come in, in part because, if your candidate is only against Biden or against the Democrats, voters want more in terms of what you’re for, what you’re going to do, and what have you done,” Casey said.
Casey also praised Vance as a newcomer to the political scene who won a tough race on his first try.
“There were a lot of Democrats who were fantasizing that somehow Tim Ryan could be both a Trump-like Conservative and then also fire up the Democrat base, and the truth is, you can’t straddle both sides of a wide division, and it didn’t come home for him,” Casey said.
After the race was called Tuesday night, Vance took the stage to run down a list of people he wanted to thank for his win. That list included his campaign team and Gov. Mike DeWine. Notably absent was any mention of former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Vance and made a stop in Ohio the night before the election.
“I’m so grateful to Mike DeWine and Jon Husted, I’m so grateful to Bob Paduchik, for helping us cobble together a unified Republican team, and we won, and we won big, ladies and gentlemen,” Vance said. “What an incredible thing. Oh, my Lord.”
And Vance pledged to serve all Ohioans, even those who did not vote for him, in a speech that was a bit subdued and lacking many of the MAGA talking points championed by many of former President Trump’s followers.
“What we need to do over the next couple of years, over the next six years, for the full length of this Senate term, whoever’s in the majority, whatever the president looks like, we have a very simple job to do – it’s to go to work every single day and fight for the people of Ohio,” Vance said.
10TV asked Casey if Vance’s message, and the losses of several Trump-endorsed candidates, might mean a turn away from candidates wanting the support of the former president.
“The people who don’t like (former President Trump) will argue that,” Casey said. “But again, it’s going to depend on who’s going to be the Democrat because, if it’s Biden, you get one answer, if it’s the California governor, it might be a different matchup and a different result. So we’ve got a long way to go, and as they say sometimes in television, to be continued.”