Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan, who ran for Senate in 2022, announced another run for the upper chamber on Tuesday.
“I am committed to putting the needs of Ohio first and delivering results as our next U.S. senator,” Dolan said in a statement. He is the first candidate to declare for the 2024 GOP primary, the winner of which will face off against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. (RELATED: Watch These Seven Senate Races In 2024)
#OHSen: It’s official. 2022 candidate Matt Dolan (R) is running it back. Dolan spent nearly $8 million of his own dough in the last Senate race and came in third in the GOP primary. His family owns the Cleveland Guardians. He tried to run as the non-MAGA alternative in 2022 pic.twitter.com/GAktInEgnR
— Matt Holt (@mattholt33) January 17, 2023
Dolan finished third in the 2022 GOP primary behind now-Sen. JD Vance and Josh Mandel. A partial owner and former front office member of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, Dolan spent more than $10.5 million of his own money on the primary. Focusing his campaign primarily on combating China and inflation, Dolan ran strongest in the Cleveland and Columbus areas.
Dolan is the first candidate to declare for the 2024 primary, although fellow 2022 candidate Bernie Moreno and Secretary of State Frank LaRose could also jump in the race. Mandel, the 2012 GOP nominee against Brown, is unlikely to run for office again.
Brown, a third-term senator, has been the only Democrat elected statewide in Ohio since 2011, when Gov. Ted Strickland left office after losing his reelection bid to John Kasich. He won reelection in 2018 by 6.8 points against former Rep. Jim Renacci.