Former President Donald Trump is expected to make his way to Ohio on Saturday to campaign for his preferred U.S. Senate candidate ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday.
Trump and President Joe Biden have clinched the nominations of the Republican and Democratic parties, respectively, with each having won a majority of the state primary contests as they seek reelection to a second term. However, a 2020 rematch is an unpopular one, with voters routinely telling pollsters that they believe that neither one should be seeking another term for various reasons. Hypothetical general election match-ups have generally shown the two neck-and-neck, on average.
On Saturday, Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally for businessman Bernie Moreno, who is running for the chance to take on Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
The event is being held at Dayton International Airport and was organized by Buckeye Values PAC, an outside group supporting Moreno's campaign. While doors open for attendees at noon, Trump is expected to speak at 4 p.m. Those unable to attend in person can live stream the event from the Right Side Broadcasting Network's (RSBN) website.
In anticipation of the rally, the former president took to Truth Social, his social media platform, to announce his appearance.
"Heading to the Great State of Ohio today. BIG RALLY IN DAYTON! See you later!" Trump wrote.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's campaign via email for comment.
Moreno is running in the Republican primary against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Senator Matt Dolan.
Trump endorsed Moreno in December, with the businessman and Dolan locked in a tight race, with many Republicans still unsure who to support, according to independent polling from Ohio Northern University.
According to the web-based poll of 1,241 likely Ohio voters conducted from March 3 through March 11, Moreno holds a slight lead with 22 percent over Dolan's 18 percent and LaRose's 16 percent. A large number of likely Republican voters said they're still undecided at 44 percent. The poll has a margin of error plus or minus 3.3 percent.
While Trump is also on Tuesday's primary ballot, he's expected to not only further cement Moreno as the Republican favorite, but use Saturday's visit to energize his supporters in a state he won by a margin of 8 points in 2016 and 2020.
This comes after Biden has gained a surprise narrow lead over Trump, eight months before November's presidential election.
In two polls, it appears Biden might marginally beat his rival. One Reuters/Ipsos poll of 3,356 registered voters found Biden would get 39 percent of the vote while Trump would get 38 percent. It was conducted between March 7 and 13 and the margin of error is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
A Civiqs/Daily Kos poll of 1,324 registered voters gave Biden 45 percent of the vote to Trump's 44 percent. This survey was conducted between March 9 and 12, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent.
However, other polls have indicated that Trump will win. A March 3 to 5 poll of 1,450 registered voters by YouGov forecasts the former president to garner 44 percent of the vote share to Biden's 42 percent.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
