Trump Makes Third Ohio Stop to Rescue Tight Senate and Governor Races
Third Ohio Visit in a Month Signals Alarm
President Donald Trump returned to Ohio on the evening of October 28 for a rally in Chillicothe, his third campaign visit to the state this month after stops in Vandalia on October 3 and Youngstown on October 12. The event, held at the Shoemaker Center on Ohio University's Chillicothe campus and scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT, was announced by the Republican National Committee as a last-minute bid to shore up GOP candidates. Trump landed at Rickenbacker International Airport at around 6:05 p.m. and finished around 9 p.m. to cheers of "USA!" and "Deport!"
White House Touts Tax Cuts and Investment
The White House said Trump returned to the Buckeye State "with a record of results," citing tax relief, falling crime, private investment, rural health care and defense industry spending. At the rally, Trump argued the country was entering a new period of prosperity, pointed to manufacturing growth in Ohio, promised to back the Rate Payer Protection Act on data-center electricity costs if Jon Husted is elected, and endorsed Issue 3 to put the state's photo ID requirement into the state constitution.
Once-Safe Ohio Turns Into a Battleground
Trump has won Ohio three times, most recently by 11 percentage points in 2024, and carried Ross County, where Chillicothe sits, with 69% in 2024. But both top races are now close. Senator Jon Husted faces former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in a special race to finish the term once held by Vice President JD Vance. Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton to succeed term-limited Governor Mike DeWine, in a state that has not elected a Democratic governor since 2006. Forecasters have moved the governor's race from toss-up to "leans Democratic" after backlash over a Ramaswamy ad featuring Acton's estranged mother.
Polls Show Dead Heat as Both Parties Mobilize
Trump claimed Husted and Ramaswamy were ahead, but polling averages tell a tighter story. A Marist poll conducted October 15-18 found Brown leading Husted 48% to 44% among likely voters. RealClearPolitics averages showed Acton leading Ramaswamy 48.1% to 44.3% and Brown ahead of Husted 47.4% to 44.3%. A Fox survey put Trump's job approval at 43% with 57% disapproving, Husted at 42% favorable and 55% unfavorable, and Brown at 50% favorable and 48% unfavorable. An Echelon Insights survey of 508 likely voters conducted October 16-23 for NetChoice put Ramaswamy at 47%, Acton at 45% and Libertarian Don Kissick at 4%, with a margin of error of 5.2 points.
Six Days to November 3 in a 32-Day Blitz
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, six days after the Chillicothe rally. Trump is framing the closing stretch as a 32-day tour, telling Ohioans in Vandalia to "just pretend I'm running" because turnout falls when he is not on the ballot, and predicting the midterms will bring a "big surprise." The night ended with his customary dance to the Village People's "YMCA," including fist pumps and golf-putting swings, after remarks that also drew a heckler shouting about Jeffrey Epstein. As Trump campaigned in Ohio, Barack Obama rallied Georgia Democrats, underscoring how both parties are treating the final days as pivotal-state trench warfare.
