Steve Daines explains party’s hands-off approach to Ohio candidate selection.

Sen. Steve Daines Stays Out of Ohio Republican Senate Primary, Takes Aggressive Approach to 2024

The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), is making strategic moves for the upcoming elections. While he is taking a more aggressive approach to 2024, Daines has decided to stay out of the Ohio Republican Senate primary next year.

Daines explained that the committee, which represents Republicans in the Senate, will not be involved in the Ohio primaries. He believes that all three candidates have the potential to flip the seat currently held by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

“When you have three candidates, [where] anyone could win the general election, we don’t stay up late at night worrying about that,” Daines told CBS News.

The key candidates in the Ohio race include businessman Bernie Moreno, state Sen. Matt Dolan, and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. While LaRose has not officially entered the race, many, including Daines, anticipate that he will. Notably, Moreno has received an endorsement from freshman Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH).

Under Daines’ leadership, the NSRC has already endorsed four candidates in crucial Senate races. These include Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Tim Sheehy in Montana, and Sam Brown in Nevada. However, these endorsements have come at the expense of Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV), potential candidate Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT), and Jim Marchant in Nevada. Republican leadership is concerned that Rosendale may not fare well in the general election if he decides to run in Montana.

So far, the committee has not endorsed any candidates in the Michigan and Wisconsin races. Their attempts to recruit Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) were unsuccessful as he announced his intention to run for reelection.

This move to endorse candidates during the primary stages is a significant departure from the approach of former chairman Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who kept the committee out of all Senate primaries.

In the upcoming 2024 election, Democrats, who currently control the Senate, will need to defend 23 seats, while Republicans only need to defend 11. Among the seats Democrats are defending are those of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Angus King (I-ME), who typically align with the Democratic Party. However, Sinema has been known to break away from her liberal counterparts on key legislation.

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Sen. Sinema from Arizona has not yet announced her bid to keep her seat next year, but it is expected that she will run as an independent, potentially leading to a three-way race. Former Republican gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) are expected to be the other contenders in the race.

Lake has not officially entered the Republican race, but she recently met with Daines to discuss a possible bid. As of now, Daines has not endorsed any candidate in Arizona.

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