With a high-stakes midterm election coming up in less than two weeks, Republicans are rallying in Cincinnati, hoping to get their base to turn out at the polls. Vice President JD Vance and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy are holding a rally at the Sharonville Convention Center.
Watch the rally live below:
WCPO 9 Live CoverageIt comes as Republicans are spending a lot of political capital in a state they have historically done well in. Political science experts say Ohio was not initially supposed to get so much campaign money; instead, money from other states Republicans think they have a lesser chance in is being redirected here to keep the governor and a U.S. Senate seat Republican.
"I think that if you look at the amount of campaign spending that has happened in Ohio, some of that new money that is coming in actually got siphoned off North Carolina, Georgia, and other states where Republicans have invested heavily, but they realized their candidates are not really going to win those races, so they've pulled money out of those markets, redirecting it into places like Ohio, Texas and others."This year, it is a battle for voter turnout. Republicans are getting their boots on the ground, making sure they appear in the battlegrounds.
With the President, the Vice President, other political heavyweights coming to Ohio, it's really about driving voters to the polls," said Associate Professor Darrin Wilson of NKU. "And that's why you're seeing them in places like the suburbs of Cincinnati, parts of Ohio and others.
When political figures come to campaign in Cincinnati, they are not just hitting Ohio. It is a political bang for your buck, with bonus exposure to Kentucky and Indiana.
