2012 United States Senate Election In Ohio

The 2012 United States Senate election in Ohio took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican Josh Mandel, the Ohio State Treasurer. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and Mandel won the Republican primary with 63% of the vote.

Democratic primary

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Filed

* Russell Bliss
* David Dodt
* Donna Glisman, retired entrepreneur
* Eric LaMont Gregory, medical scientist
* Josh Mandel, Ohio State Treasurer
* Michael Pryce, surgeon

Withdrew

* Kevin Coughlin, former Ohio state senator (dropped out)

Endorsements

Josh Mandel was endorsed by Rob Portman, U.S. Senator (R-OH); Jim DeMint, U.S. Senator (R-SC); Jim Jordan, U.S. Congressman (R-OH); Club for Growth; National Rifle Association; Tea Party Express; Jeb Bush, Former Governor of Florida; John McCain, U.S. Senator (R-AZ); Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator (R-FL); Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey; Afghanistan & Iraq Veterans for Congress (AIVC); Buckeye Firearms Association National Right to Life Committee; Ohio Right to Life; and National Federation of Independent Business

Results

General election

Candidates

* Sherrod Brown ( Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator
* Josh Mandel (Republican), Ohio State Treasurer

Scott Rupert
(Independent), truck driver

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 15, 2012 - C-SPAN
Complete video of debate
October 25, 2012 - C-SPAN

Campaign

In 2006, U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown defeated two-term incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mike DeWine 56%-44% 2006 election. Over the next six years, he established a very liberal, progressive, and populist record. The ''National Journal'' named Brown the most liberal U.S. Senator in the past two years. ''The Washington Post'' called him a "modern-day Paul Wellstone." One article said "Brown is way to the left of Ohio in general, but probably the only person who could outwork Brown is Portman." Brown is the only candidate the 60 Plus Association targeted in the 2012 election cycle.

Mandel, 34, was elected state treasurer in 2010. Before that, he was a Lyndhurst City Councilman and Ohio State Representative. He was criticized as Ohio Treasurer for not fulfilling his pledge to serve a four-year term and for not attending any of the Board of Deposit monthly meetings. However, Mandel raised a lot of money. He was called a rising star in the Republican Party and was called "the rock star of the party." He was also compared to Marco Rubio.

Mandel's campaign was singled out by the independent fact-checking group Politifact for its "casual relationship with the truth" and its tendency to "double down" after inaccuracies were pointed out. The fact-checking group wrote: "For all the gifts Mandel has, from his compelling personal narrative as an Iraq war veteran to a well-oiled fundraising machine, whoppers are fast becoming a calling card of his candidacy."

Mandel raised $7.2 million through the first quarter of 2012. He had $5.3 million cash on hand, trailing Brown's $6.3 million. However, Mandel benefited from massive support from conservative out-of-state superPACs, which raise unlimited amounts of money from anonymous donors. These outside groups, including Crossroads GPS, aired over $60 million in TV advertising supporting Mandel and attacking Brown, outspending Democratically aligned outside groups by more than five-to-one. Mandel's campaign was aided by over $1 million spent primarily on attack ads by a 501(c)(4) organization called the Government Integrity Fund. The group was funded by anonymous donors and run by lobbyist Tom Norris of Columbus, Ohio-based Cap Square Solutions.

Endorsements

Brown was endorsed by the ''Cleveland Plain Dealer'', the ''Columbus Dispatch'', the ''Toledo Blade'', the ''Youngstown Vindicator'', ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'', and the ''Akron Beacon-Journal''.

Mandel was endorsed by the Warren '' Tribune-Chronicle'' and the Marietta Times.

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

;Democratic primary

;Republican primary

;General election

Results

By congressional district

Brown won 6 of 16 congressional districts, including the 10th and 14th districts, which elected Republicans to the House.

See also

* 2012 United States Senate elections
* 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio

References

External links

Ohio Secretary of State - Elections


Campaign contributions
at OpenSecrets.org

Outside spending
at Sunlight Foundation

Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues

;Official campaign websites

Sherrod Brown for U.S. Senate

Josh Mandel for U.S. Senate

{{2012 United States elections

2012 Ohio elections
Ohio
2012
Sherrod Brown