Donald Trump, Ohio Republicans Rile Up Crowd One Month Before Election Day

President Donald Trump rallied a crowd on Saturday in Vandalia, Ohio, a month from the midterms, with the aim of keeping Ohio a red state.

Among Republican speakers were gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Jon Husted, who is running in a special election against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

“With your vote, just 31 days from now, Ohio is going to defeat the radical left Democrats once again,” Trump said. He called Husted and Ramaswamy “fantastic guys,” predicting they’d win.

He asked the crowd to “pretend that I’m on the ballot,” as when he’s not, fewer people turn out, though he predicted Republican wins should there be a large turnout.

Trump promoted Issue 3, which would codify Ohio’s existing voter ID law. He predicted the ballot initiative is “going to get a lot of people.” The idea was promoted by Ramaswamy in May and has support from his Democratic opponent, Dr. Amy Acton.

Trump spent a considerable amount of his remarks contrasting the priorities of Republicans in charge versus Democrats. He warned the damage Democrats caused could happen again following the midterms, with Trump appealing to Ohioans to “not let that happen.”

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He specifically focused on Democrats’ fixation with illegal immigration, allowing men to compete in women’s sports and the mutilation of children through transgender surgeries.

Many of Trump’s touted economic successes involved Ohio, including factory openings and trillions of dollars invested. “There’s never been anything like it,” Trump pointed out.

Trump celebrated Husted for serving as “a great lieutenant governor” and for how he sponsored the Ratepayer Protection Act on data center costs, which Trump called “very good.” Senate Democrats blocked the bill, despite near unanimous support in the House. The president said he’d sign it “immediately.”

Husted also introduced voter ID provisions in the Senate and had a role in tax cuts via the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Trump went hard against Brown’s record, calling the former senator a “radical left phony.” He also reminded the crowd Brown “just got beaten so badly by Bernie Moreno and now Jon Husted’s going to do it.”

After Trump welcomed Husted for further remarks the Ohio senator reiterated his connection to Dayton, as well as how Trump won the state in 2024 against then-Vice President Kamala Harris by 11 points, which he tied to his own election.

Husted had a hopeful tone of how Republicans “fought back” in Ohio and made it the best state to do business. CNBC in July named Ohio as the best state for doing business. “But all we did could not have come to fruition if we didn’t have a made in America, America First policy to go along with it.”

In welcoming Ramaswamy to the stage, Trump also referenced Acton, “a radical left lunatic… who’s trying to pretend she’s a moderate.” He criticized her handling of COVID-19 and warned “she will destroy everything that the people of Ohio stand for.”

Ramaswamy also referenced Acton and likened her to Harris, as well as his own run for governor and Trump’s 2016 win, declaring “Ohio is going to send a businessman rather than a bureaucrat to lead our great state here at home.”

He also spoke to working with the president “to bring investment into Ohio, to put more money in your pockets, to bring down those healthcare costs, to combat Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse, to put that money back in your pockets to bring the American dream back.”

Before Trump spoke Ramaswamy took the stage to express his appreciation for the state, touching upon his immigrant background and getting ahead.

“We want our kids to grow up in a state, in a country where they’re able to achieve even bigger things than we have. In our case, hopefully by staying in Ohio, not because we force them to, but because this is the state on God’s green earth where the best possible opportunities are actually available to them. That is what this election is about,” he told the crowd.

Ramaswamy also promoted how suspending the gas tax passed, just over a week from when he laid out a plan.

During his earlier remarks, Husted lamented how Brown had been in office for 50 years but hadn’t done much for the state and specifically slammed his record on immigration, including the “consequence for that that still lives today.”

He mentioned a priority of his and Moreno’s when it comes to addressing sanctuary states handing out drive-only licenses to illegal immigrants, including those who go on to kill Ohio drivers in accidents.

Husted also introduced a surprise cameo, former NFL coach Jon Gruden, a friend of his, who also later received a shoutout from the president.

“It was because of his work ethic and his commitment and his day-to-day mental toughness. He will never quit ever on you or anybody,” Gruden said about Husted being “a great player.”

“Before you know it, this election is over,” the coach warned, calling on Ohioans “to do our part” and “be there,” as he encouraged attendees to also invite their friends to vote “and let’s get Husted back in action!”

Will the rally turn out to be fruitful? Ohio’s races for governor and senator are regarded as “toss-ups,” though some forecasters give Brown and Acton, both of whom are up in the polls, a greater advantage.

Matt Dole, a Republican strategist, told the Daily Signal the rally shows good signs.

“The president continues to be extremely popular with Ohio Republicans. If the argument, and I’m not sure I buy it, is that Republicans lack enthusiasm, the president’s visit was important and impactful. The Democrats’ attempt to try to twist the visit will largely fall on deaf ears,” he told the Daily Signal. “They are the party who cried wolf, angry with the president if he so much as sneezes. It’s not credible. I think Republicans are plenty excited to vote for Jon Husted, Vivek Ramaswamy, and the entire ticket and showed it by attending the campaign event in Vandalia.”