Ohio Senate Candidates Coy on Running

Ohio’s 2012 elections could help determine which party takes control of the U.S. Senate, but the two top contenders for the spot are being coy about their plans, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

 

Currently, Democrats hold 51 Senate seats, while the Republicans hold 47 and two senators are independents; Republicans need four seats to take over Senate control.

 

However, incumbent Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown and the Republican front-runner, Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, have not yet announced they’re running, although they appear to be gearing up for campaigns.

 

Mandel is raising money and attacking Brown, but says he is too busy to run for national office. Brown is also acting as if he is not a candidate, and is refusing to respond to Mandel’s attacks saying “he’s not a candidate. There is no candidate in this race. I’ve not announced for re-election.”

 

While neither has announced his candidacy, Mandel, 34, would be running as an underdog against Brown, who has been in office since 2006 when he defeated then-incumbent Republican Mike DeWine. In that year, swing voters leaned Democrat because of the unpopularity of President George W. Bush and congressional scandals.

 

However, swing voters might now be looking more at the Republican party, said Jennifer Duffy of Cook Political Report.

 

“Brown had the best of all environments to run in, [in 2006] and now he may have one of the worst,” Duffy said.