A local, under-the-radar race is pitting two allies of President Trump against one another: the vice president, J.D. Vance, and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The race for Ohio’s state treasurer, between state Sen. Kristina Roegner and former state Rep. Jay Edwards, is also a mini-battle between Vance and Ramaswamy. Vance has endorsed Edwards, while Ramaswamy has endorsed Roegner. (RELATED: Vivek Ramaswamy Confirms He’s Leaving DOGE, Teases ‘Future Plans’ In Ohio)
“Jay and I are both sons of Appalachia. We know what it’s like to come from places the elites ignore — and we know the strength, pride, and values that built Ohio,” Vance said February. “Jay has never forgotten where he came from, and he’s spent his career standing up for Southeast Ohio and putting hardworking people first.”
US Vice President JD Vance (C) speaks with Vivek Ramaswamy as Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance arrive at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna Ohio, en route to East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2025. Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, were forced to evacuate in February 2023, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying chemicals derailed, covering the area in thick black smoke. (Photo by REBECCA DROKE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
As Politico noted, this is one of the “many divides bubbling up in the Republican Party that is tentatively charting a post-Trump future, with both Ramaswamy and Vance jockeying to put their stamp on the GOP.”
Further, although the position of the state treasury seems far removed from national politics, it has served as a “springboard for Ohio Republicans with higher aspirations,” the outlet reported.
Joe Deters, a former state treasurer, serves on the Ohio Supreme Court. Josh Mandel, who served as the state treasurer from 2011 to 2019, has run for U.S. Senate three times. In 2022, Mandel lost in the GOP primary to Vance. (RELATED: JD Vance Wins Hard-Fought GOP Senate Primary, Will Face Off Against Rep. Tim Ryan In November)
US entrepreneur and former Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 16, 2024. Days after he survived an assassination attempt Donald Trump won formal nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and picked right-wing loyalist J.D. Vance for running mate, kicking off a triumphalist party convention in the wake of last weekend’s failed assassination attempt. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Elsewhere in the Republican Party, the high-profile primary race between Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and Trump-backed candidate Ed Gallrein is another prime example of future GOP divides “bubbling up” to the surface. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Democrat Donors Flood Cash To Trump-Backed Massie Challenger)
As the endorsement war between Massie and Gallrein plays out, expect there to be an ever-growing fracture between Trump loyalists and the more America First, libertarian wing of the GOP. Each faction will be jockeying for power in shaping the future of the party once Trump’s second term comes to a close.
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