Tags: jusice | manchin | ohio
OPINION

Battle for '24 Is About Taking Back America

senator joe manchin democrat of west virginia

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., during a hearing of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee: July 19, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Michael Dorstewitz By Wednesday, 26 July 2023 11:01 AM EDT Current | Bio | Archive

While nightly news reports concentrate on the 2024 presidential election, Republicans should not lose focus on another goal — taking back the U.S. Senate.

Thirty-three Senate seats will be subject to elections in 2024, and of those, five currently held by Democrats are capable of being flipped by Republicans, according to a recent column published by The Hill.com: Arizona, Montana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

However, the Cook Political Report identifies only three of them — Arizona, Ohio and West Virginia — as being tossups or leaning Republican.

2024 is also a presidential election year, and Wood County, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Jakubowski confirmed to Newsmax that "the top of the ticket always has an effect on down-ticket races."

Attorney, businessman, and Republican strategist Ford O’Connell agreed, "taking the Senate is best done by winning the presidency," but added, "this time around you can take the Senate even without winning the White House."

O'Connell additionally noted that in order to control the Senate, Republicans need to win two seats, "but if we win the presidency, we only need one" because the vice president will break any tie votes in that chamber.

And of those three seats ripe for picking, the GOP should concentrate its efforts in West Virginia and Ohio.

"Obviously, our best pickup is West Virginia," O’Connell told Newsmax. "If [Gov.] Jim Justice wins [the primary], it’s going to be game, set, and match."

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is a moderate frequently at odds with his own party.

He will have held that seat for 14 years by the time of his reelection bid, and was a popular former governor of his state as well.

But now he’s in real trouble.

In a recent East Carolina University poll Justice trounced Manchin by a commanding 22-points, 54% to 32%, and has a job approval rating President Joe Biden would envy: 57%, versus 29% disapproval.

"Not only is Jim Justice wealthy, not only is he good at retail politics, but he was a Democrat, then an independent, then he was a Republican," McConnell said.

"He sort of evolved with West Virginia."

Sen. Manchin has yet to have had that "come to Jesus moment," despite often voting with Republicans. This is important given that former President Donald Trump won every West Virginia county in 2020, and banked nearly 70% of the state’s popular vote.

"Obviously Ohio is the next good one because it has gone from being a purple state to a red state," O’Connell said.

Pundits predicted 2022 would be a banner year for the GOP.

Instead, they barely flipped the House and lost one net seat in the Senate.

Ohio was one of the few states that met the predictions.

"Ohio followed that narrative," Jakubowski agreed.

"The Republican incumbent governor won by 26 points. Ohio was like Florida. So we really demonstrated that our state had become that much more conservative and we won across the board with few exceptions. We swept all statewide elections."

That should place Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, on notice.

But he’ll be a tougher nut to crack than Manchin.

"He’s a fixture, he’s got name ID," Jakubowski said. "He won in 2018 but I don’t believe he necessarily won on his merits. His name ID was there and we didn’t really have a good candidate."

Despite the obvious problems, next year may be different.

Republican J.D. Vance, Ohio’s junior U.S. senator, has already endorsed Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno to challenge Brown next year.

But first Moreno will have to face off against state Sen. Matt Dolan, Dist. 24, for the Republican nomination.

"I think one reason Bernie is so effective is that he’s self-funded. He’s got a boatload of money and he’s connected with the Trump organization," and therefore "is likely to get Trump’s endorsement."

He added that "Trump’s endorsement carries weight in Ohio."

And Brown’s politics will work against him.

"He’s in lockstep with the Biden administration," Jakubowski said, adding that Brown’s been on the wrong side of nearly every issue of concern to Ohio voters, including "everything from the vaccine mandates, to the multiple, leftist assaults on core American values."

Jakubowski, the author of "Bellwether Blues, A Conservative Awakening of the Millennial Soul," said that "he’s radical on abortions, he’s radical on immigration, he’s radical on the economy."

O’Connell, a regular Newsmax TV contributor, agreed that "Sherrod Brown is not an easy out," but also agreed that it’s "one we should be able to pick up."

But while 33 Senate seats are subject to election, all 435 House seats are in play. Republicans hold 222, Democrats 212, and one is vacant.

Reversing the damage done by the current administration will take winning both chambers of Congress and the White House. And it may take more than a single presidential term.

Let’s get cracking. We have a country to save.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


MichaelDorstewitz
Reversing the damage done by the current administration will take winning both chambers of Congress and the White House. And it may take more than a single presidential term.
jusice, manchin, ohio
843
2023-01-26
Wednesday, 26 July 2023 11:01 AM
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