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Husted Says the Key to the Governor's Race is County Chairs, and He Has Backing From a Third of Them

The four GOP candidates for governor (clockwise from top left: Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Mary Taylor and Jim Renacci) each says he or she has a key advantage.
ANDY CHOW
/
OHIO PUBLIC RADIO
The four GOP candidates for governor (clockwise from top left: Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Mary Taylor and Jim Renacci) each says he or she has a key advantage.
The four GOP candidates for governor (clockwise from top left: Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Mary Taylor and Jim Renacci) each says he or she has a key advantage.
OHIO PUBLIC RADIO
The four GOP candidates for governor (clockwise from top left: Mike DeWine, Jon Husted, Mary Taylor and Jim Renacci) each says he or she has a key advantage.

  One of the four GOP candidates for governor believes momentum is swinging his direction after gaining more support from local leaders. As Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, the county-level endorsements have proven to be helpful in recent big elections.

Secretary of State JonHustedsays his list of supporters for governor now includes a third of Ohio’s 88 Republican county chairs.

“People are going to turn to their local leaders to say, 'Who should we be for, who should we volunteer for, who should we vote for?' And to have them in our camp out there working for us really gives our campaign a big boost.”

Following Donald Trump's presidential victory, his Ohio campaign touted the support of county chairs as playing a huge role.

Other campaigns haven’t released their list of endorsements but responded by pushing their strengths. For Mike DeWine it was name recognition and popularity, and for Jim Renacci and Mary Taylor it was support from grassroots organizations.

The chair of the Ohio GOP has said the state party will not endorse in the gubernatorial primary.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.
Andy Chow
Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.