The Plain Dealer’s leading Republican opinion columnist shares words of praise for Matt Dolan’s substantive conservative record. Calling Dolan’s candidacy “excellent”, Ted Diadiun says he’s well-equipped to run as the most effective challenges to entrenched Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown in the general election.
“However, a couple of hats have been thrown into the 2024 ring that require a bit of celebration. They belong to Ohio State Sen. Matt Dolan of Chagrin Falls, who announced last month that he intends another run for the U.S. Senate, hoping to take on three-term Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and help reassert a Republican majority in the upper chamber. Timing in politics is – if not everything – very important. Get in too late and you fall behind in momentum and fund-raising, allowing your opponents to take the momentum, set the agenda and collect endorsements.
“That’s what happened to Dolan in last year’s Senate run. Even though he announced in September of 2021, his campaign didn’t really get rolling until mere months before the election, and his closing rally in the GOP primary fell short behind Josh Mandel and eventual winner J.D. Vance. But get in too early and you lose the freshness and excitement of being a new face with new ideas, and risk becoming old news by the time the elections arrive. Election history is filled with shooting stars who burst into brief prominence, and just as quickly went down in flames. It’s early, but the timing seems right for … Dolan this time around.
“As for Dolan, he has established himself as a calm voice of reason with a strong but moderate conservative record. That general election might not be the uphill climb it could appear against Brown, upon whom fortune has smiled as he, one of the Senate’s most liberal members, won three terms while Ohio has moved steadily to the right.”
Dolan has moved quick to get into the race, highlight his proven conservative record and lock down more than 100 local Republican endorsements across the state.