Josh Mandel, the Republican state treasurer in Ohio, is challenging the incumbent Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown. (Citizens for Josh Mandel)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A powerful conservative Republican political action committee endorsed Josh Mandel, the state treasurer of Ohio, in his bid to unseat incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
The Tea Party Express said in a statement Wednesday that Mandel “epitomizes the new face of conservative Republicans, and we couldn’t be more proud to support his campaign.”
Tea Party groups backed Mandel’s previous bid to unseat Brown, in 2012, citing his fiscal conservatism as state treasurer.
Mandel, a Marines veteran who served in Iraq, announced his bid in December with a 2-minute YouTube video that starts by noting that one grandparent served in the U.S. military during World War II and two others survived the Holocaust.
“I’m here today because they all won their fights,” he said.
Mandel, who shied away from Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has since then adopted some of the president’s rhetoric, deriding a “rigged system” and “political correctness.”
