Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Josh Mandel, The Trumpian Ohio Senate Candidate, Drops Out Of Race

Josh Mandel, largely considered the Republican frontrunner for the 2018 Ohio Senate seat, announced Friday he is ending his race. Mandel cited health issues his wife is dealing with as the reason for dropping out.

“After recent discussions with our family and healthcare professionals, it has become clear to us that it’s no longer possible for me to be away from home and on the campaign trail for the time needed to run a U.S. Senate race,” Mandel wrote supporters in a statement. “Therefore, I’m writing today to let you know that I am ending my campaign for U.S. Senate in order to be there for my wife and our three children.”

Mandel, who currently serves as Ohio’s State Treasurer, was in the midst of his second attempt to unseat Democratic senator Sherrod Brown. He is an early Trump supporter who has adopted many of Trump’s ideas and tactics. Both he and his wife Ilana come from prominent Jewish families in the Cleveland area.

“While unexpected, I accept that this change of course is what God has in store for our family at this time,” Mandel wrote in his statement. “As we read in the Book of Proverbs, ‘Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it’s God’s purpose that prevails.’”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.