Donald Trump flies to Ohio in election eve push to power JD Vance and GOP outsiders to victory

Former President Donald Trump heads to Dayton, Ohio, on Monday for an election eve rally in support of Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance and other GOP figures, as he eyes launching his own 2024 campaign this month.

Vance – a former venture capitalist and author – is a political newcomer, typical of the breed of GOP outsider that Trump is backing around the nation.

One of the best known is election denier Kari Lake, a former TV journalist. who has a small lead in the race to be the next governor of Arizona.

Add in former football star Herschel Walker in Georgia, venture capitalist Blake Masters in Arizona, retired special forces soldier Don Bolduc in New Hampshire and TV’s Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania and the result is that control of the Senate now lies in the hands of a bunch of political newcomers.

On Monday, organizers said Trump will deliver a speech highlighting his ‘unprecedented effort to advance the MAGA agenda by energizing voters and the slate of 16-0 Trump Endorsed America First candidates.’

It maps a path to 2024. If Trump can claim that his picks and his money were the deciding factor in taking back Congress, he can launch his 2024 run as a winner – not as the president who lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

‘It’s classic Trump,’ said a former staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he still works as a consultant on other races. 

‘Every move is weighed in terms of how much it benefits him.’

Former President Donald Trump closes his midterm campaign with a rally at Dayton International Airport, Ohio, on Monday evening as he mulls his own 2024 presidential run

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Donald Trump will be hoping to seal the deal for Republican Ohio candidate J.D. Vance on Monday night, and stumping for TV’s Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania on Saturday

In New Hampshire, Don Bolduc has emerged as a stronger candidate than expected, while in Georgia, Herschel Walker’s personal troubles have not stopped him holding a slight edge

Insiders even hint that the announcement could come sooner, before the results are even in. 

Republicans are comfortably placed to take control of the House majority on Tuesday, and Democrats also fear the Senate is slipping away in a defeat that would see Biden’s foes in near total charge of legislation during his last two years in the White House. 

If that happens it will be in no small way down to Trump’s impact on the midterm elections and an unlikely band of outside candidates who have turned longshot campaigns into toss-up races.

By his staff’s count he has hosted 43 telerallies, 52 fundraisers and appeared at 30 Save America rallies in 17 states. 

And the Trump-backed super PAC, MAGA Inc, has spent more than $16 million in five U.S. Senate races.

In all Save America says Trump has raised  

At times the money has replaced that of more establishment-focused groups, such as those linked to Sen. Mitch McConnell, that pulled spending from campaigns in New Hampshire and Arizona that they thought were slipping away.

‘The only factors were: Is the race competitive and can this money make a difference,’ said a Trump aide. 

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Kari Lake, a former TV news anchor, has a lead in the race to be Arizona’s 

It has also been a chance for Trump to flex his muscles and show that he remains a force in national politics.

His team is already preparing to take credit if the party takes control of the Senate, via the likes of Bolduc, Masters or Oz.

That could be the springboard for a November announcement. 

‘I did much better the second time,’ Trump said at a rally Sunday in Miami, referencing how his vote total increased from 2016 to 2020, despite losing to Joe Biden.

‘And now, in order to make our country successful and glorious, I will probably have to do it again.’ 

Reports suggest he was even keen to announce his run during a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, but was talked out of the plan by aides who pointed out it would overshadow Oz’s campaign.

Supporters packed in at the outdoor Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center despite the rainy weather for a Trump rally on Sunday evening

Trump said as much. 

‘I don’t want to do that right now because I’d like to do it … I want to have the focus tonight be on Dr. Oz, and Doug Mastriano. Because we have to win, alright?’

He also trolled his potential opponents for the Republican nomination – including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom he has nicknamed ‘Ron DeSanctimonious.’

‘We’re winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before,’ he said.

He asked for poll numbers to be put up on the screen above him. 

‘There it is, Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,’ Trump said derisively.

‘Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought. Liz Cheney there’s no way she’s at 4 percent. There’s no way. There’s no way. But we’re at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.’