In the lead-up to last Tuesday’s Republican primary in Ohio, Republican Governor Mike DeWine declined to endorse Donald Trump in the presidential election, saying only that in November, he would vote for the Republican candidate, The Hill reported.
While appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” last weekend, DeWine refused to specifically endorse Trump’s candidacy, instead telling host Dana Bash that as a Republican, he would always vote for the Republican nominee for president.
DeWine said his focus in 2024 would be on helping Republicans win down-ballot races with a particular focus on defeating Ohio Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown. The governor explained that with Trump already leading in the polls, he thought it was more important to focus on the Senate race in Ohio.
DeWine and Trump clashed over which Republican candidate should face Senator Brown in November. The Ohio Governor threw his support behind state Senator Matt Dolan, while Trump endorsed challenger Bernie Moreno.
Governor DeWine told Dana Bash that having worked with Dolan in the Ohio legislature, he believed that the state Senator was a much stronger candidate than Trump’s pick Moreno.
In the end, Moreno defeated Dolan and his other Republican challenger Frank LaRose, earning over 50 percent of the votes in last Tuesday’s primary. Dolan came in a distant second with 32.9 percent.
Governor DeWine was not the only Republican to avoid endorsing Trump in 2024 in recent days.
In a recent interview on Fox News, former Vice President Mike Pence went even further than DeWine, saying he would not vote for either Trump or Biden in November.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana also refused to endorse Trump in a March 17 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Like DeWine, Cassidy refused to commit to endorsing the former president but said he planned to vote Republican in the General Election.
