Does the Trump-Vance endorsement still hold weight? Ohio, Indiana hold primaries today

0:01 in ms now's will mcduffie in cleveland ohio

0:03 and in indiana nikki kelly editor-in-chie of the indiana

0:06 capitol chronicle also with us bloomberg white house correspondent

0:10 jeff mason we'll break down the key races we're

0:12 watching today there in ohio for us governor

0:17 and u .s senate anna and look we're not

0:19 expecting much drama tonight the general election matchups

0:23 in both of those races are pretty much locked in.

0:25 But there's a national focus on Ohio this year,

0:27 because even though it's a state that we've

0:30 seen shift drastically toward Republicans over the last decade,

0:34 Democrats think They think they have major pickup opportunities for the U .S.

0:38 Senate seat and for governor.

0:40 First of all, on the governor's race,

0:41 they think they can capitalize on the polarization of the Republican,

0:45 likely Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, the firebrand,

0:48 biotech entrepreneur who ran for president, co-founded Doge.

0:52 And on the Senate side, they believe that Sherrod Brown,

0:55 the longtime senator who served three terms before losing in 2024,

0:59 can be just the thing that the party NEEDS

1:02 TO RETAKE OHIO AND HELP THEM RETAKE THE SENATE MAJORITY.

1:06 THEY NEED AT LEAST FOUR PICK-UP SEATS IN ORDER TO DO THAT, ANA.

1:11 AND WE SEE VANCE THERE IN CINCINNATI,

1:14 THE VICE PRESIDENT PARTICIPATING IN THE PRIMARIES IN HIS HOME STATE TODAY.

1:20 WILL, WHAT ARE YOU HEARING FROM VOTERS AS THEY HEAD TO THE POLLS?

1:25 WILL, WHAT ARE YOU talk to people here and you kind of understand

1:29 one of the reasons Democrats think this could be a pickup opportunity,

1:32 because folks are really frustrated with the state of the economy right now.

1:35 We took some time yesterday and went out to Lorraine,

1:38 which is a A RUSSBELT TOWN ON LAKE ERIE.

1:41 IT'S ACTUALLY WHERE SHERRID BROWN BUILT HIS POLITICAL CAREER AS A CONGRESSMAN.

1:45 AND WE HEARD FROM FOLKS JUST SPEAKING TO THEM

1:48 ON THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN THAT THEY'RE STRUGGLING RIGHT NOW.

1:50 LET'S TAKE A listen.

1:54 Places are shutting down up along the storefronts here.

1:59 They can't seem to keep as many places open.

2:04 Just not enough money going around.

2:07 This big beautiful building helped me.

2:11 It didn't help me in the least.

2:12 If anything it's one of the reasons I'm having to go back to work.

2:16 Do you look at the price at the gas pump and you're like, wow, is that real?

2:20 I guess it is.

2:21 So you try to avoid it a little bit.

2:24 You don't fill it up all the way.

2:28 And Ana, just in a couple conversations we've had

2:31 with people coming into the polling site here in Cleveland.

2:33 Same thing, economy on everybody's mind, Ana.

2:36 Okay.

2:37 And of course, cameras still trained on the vice president.

2:39 We'll see if he ends up talking to reporters after he votes.

2:42 Will McDuffie, thank you.

2:43 Keep us posted from Ohio.

2:45 Jeff, we're just, you know, hearing from these voters more and more

2:49 who are disillusioned about the economy and upset,

2:53 angry, disappointed in the president.

2:57 Is that going to be enough for Democrats like Sherrod Brown to flip

3:00 red seats in November in their quest to retake the House and the Senate?

3:04 Well, that's the question.

3:05 And certainly it's going to be I don't think it's easy

3:08 in a state like Ohio that has certainly swung very much

3:11 to the right and to the red column in the last

3:16 several elections for a Democrat to win at a statewide level.

3:20 But that said, those those clips that you just played from Will's

3:25 interviews were striking to me in part because of the demographic.

3:29 It was, those were all white men who were interviewed.

3:32 And that is usually, at least in the last election,

3:36 a demographic that has been leading more towards Republicans.

3:40 And it's the Rust Belt in general.

3:44 And that is also an area that Republicans have been

3:46 very successful in, in Ohio and other states around the country.

3:51 So if I were a political strategist in the White House right now,

3:55 those types of quotes would be very concerning to me.

3:58 And they no doubt are to this White House.

4:00 And that's one reason why you've seen the president intervening to some extent

4:04 in some of these local elections and endorsing

4:08 people in those state races in Indiana,

4:11 and really working hard on the redistricting push

4:16 as an attempt anyway to try to have some last minute,

4:20 not super last minute, but in the scheme of things,

4:23 last minute influence over that november election that keeps taking

4:26 closer and closer every day you just made the perfect segue

4:29 into my next question for nikki who is all over what's happening

4:33 there in indiana and redistricting does seem to be the key word,

4:37 President Trump endorsing seven primary challengers running against Republican

4:42 state senators who voted against his congressional redistricting push there.

4:47 So, Nikki, what are you watching for today?

4:49 Nikki, what are you watching for Yeah, I mean,

4:51 I think what we're all expecting to see tonight is

4:54 how much weight does the Trump endorsement have in Indiana?

4:57 Obviously, Indiana's a massively red state and we've been

5:01 first on the board for President Trump in the past.

5:04 But, you know, we're also talking down-ballot races.

5:08 You know, these are more local races with longtime

5:11 incumbents who really have deep ties in their communities.

5:14 And so there's a question of whether

5:17 a presidential endorsement will outweigh those ties.

5:21 Yeah, and I understand the airwaves have been flooded with ads

5:26 with nearly $12 million spent on these state Senate races.

5:30 Just for perspective for our viewers,

5:32 less than $500 ,000 was spent on those races in 2024.

5:36 This year, $12 million.

5:38 Nikki, is all that money having an impact?

5:42 Yeah, I think it will.

5:43 Obviously, most of it's coming from outside groups,

5:47 whether it's Turning Point USA or Club for Growth, those kinds of things,

5:52 but also some from our internal Senate Majority Campaign Committee.

5:56 It's gotten pretty nasty in some of the races,

6:00 and so I think the Trump-allied folks will

6:05 pick up a few of these incumbent seats, but it certainly won't be a sweep.

6:08 All right.

6:09 We'll be watching closely.