Ohio U.S. candidate J.D. Vance (R) once wrote for a website run by David Frum, who now offers a personal reflection on the Vance he knew in The Atlantic.

“Vance wrote for FrumForum under a pseudonym. So, even as my former contributor’s career has lurched in disturbing directions, I’ve felt honor-bound to maintain confidentiality about the pieces.”

President Biden will tout expanded U.S. manufacturing in Ohio on Friday, but U.S. Senate nominee Tim Ryan (D) won’t be joining him, Bloomberg reports.

“His absence suggests Democrats running in the most competitive congressional races regard Biden and his low public approval ratings as a drag on their chances.”

Playbook found a Dropbox folder with dozens of campaign strategy documents from a super PAC supporting Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance, including PDFs of two versions of a “JD Vance vulnerability analysis.”

It is essentially a “how to” guide for attacking Vance.

“Former president Donald Trump’s sway over Republicans in this year’s midterms will be tested on Tuesday in a crowded primary for the U.S. Senate in Ohio — one of two states where voters are heading to the polls,” the Washington Post reports.

“Republican primary voters will select their nominee to fill an open Senate seat from a group that includes a candidate backed by Trump, three others who have touted ties to him and one who has rejected the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.”

Columbus Dispatch: “Candidates and interest groups had spent or reserved around $66.2 million on television, cable and radio advertising in the GOP primary as of Monday.”

“That number shattered previous Ohio campaign spending records, underscoring the high stakes and competitive nature of the race for an open U.S. Senate seat even in its final days.”

A new Trafalgar Group poll in Ohio finds J.D. Vance leading the Republican U.S. Senate primary with 26%, followed by Matt Dolan at 22%, Josh Mandel at 21%, Mike Gibbons at 13% and Jane Timken at 6%.

Donald Trump attacked Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Matt Dolan (R) for his family’s ownership of Cleveland’s baseball team:

“Anybody who changes the name of the ‘storied’ Cleveland Indians (from 1916), an original baseball franchise, to the Cleveland Guardians, is not fit to serve in the United States Senate.”

A new Fox News poll finds support for J.D. Vance (R) has doubled in the Ohio Republican senate primary race, catapulting him ahead of earlier frontrunners Josh Mandel (R) and Mike Gibbons (R) — although many voters remain undecided or uncertain about their vote. 

Vance leads with 23% of primary voters, followed by Mandel at 18%, Gibbons at 13%, Matt Dolan at 11% and Jane Timken at 6%.

Donald Trump told Club for Growth President David McIntosh to “go fuck yourself” in a text message after McIntosh refused to switch his organization’s endorsement in the Ohio Senate race from Josh Mandel (R) to J.D. Vance (R), who Trump endorsed last week, the New York Times reports.

“He was lagging in the polls. His cash was running low. With the state’s primary fast approaching, J.D. Vance’s chances of winning the Ohio GOP Senate nomination didn’t look promising,” Politico reports.

“But his fortunes have changed dramatically in just the last week since Donald Trump delivered his endorsement, an intervention that has upended one of the most contentious Republican primaries in the nation.”

Yahoo News: Ohio Republicans pick sides as primary battle for U.S. Senate race enters final stretch.

Puck: “Vance suddenly received a jolt of momentum thanks to a somewhat surprising Good Friday endorsement from Trump… Thiel lobbied Trump directly for the nod of approval… The two have spoken several times in recent weeks, including at an in-person meeting a month or two ago.”

A new Trafalgar Group poll in Ohio finds Josh Mandel (R) leading the Republican U.S. Senate primary with 28%, followed by J.D. Vance (R) at 23%, Mike Gibbons (R) at 14%, Matt Dolan (R) at 12% and Jane Timkin (R) at 8%.

However, an endorsement by Donald Trump would make 55% of Republican voters either “more likely” or “much more likely” to vote for that candidate.

“Republican rivals to J.D. Vance have embarked on a last-ditch effort to stave off an endorsement from Donald Trump in Ohio’s Senate primary, a response prompted by swirling speculation that the former president is close to backing Vance in the contentious race,” Politico reports.

“Trump has so far stayed out of the primary, even as early voting has already begun ahead of the May 3 election. But his endorsement could dramatically shift the margins in the crowded field of candidates, where no one in the five-way race has taken a commanding lead.”

Sources tell NBC News that former President Trump is planning to endorse J.D. Vance (R) in Ohio’s crowded Republican U.S. Senate primary.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) endorsed Josh Mandel (R) in the highly competitive Ohio Senate Republican primary, the Washington Examiner reports.

“The leading Republican candidate in the Ohio Senate primary employed offensive stereotypes about Asian people in a 2013 podcast, citing a widely discredited book, The Bell Curve, that has drawn allegations of racism and sloppy research,” the New York Times reports.

“The Senate candidate, Mike Gibbons, a financier who has poured millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign, made the comments during a discussion of how to do business in China. The remarks, published here for the first time, come as Republican candidates grapple with how to address a topic that has inflamed their voters, many of whom blame Beijing for a coronavirus pandemic that Donald Trump has referred to as the “Chinese virus.””

Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Jane Timken (R) received three Senate endorsements for her bid to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), The Hill reports.

Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) all backed Timken, citing what they said were her conservative credentials.