CLEVELAND — Democrat Tim Ryan and Republican JD Vance held first their first debate Monday Night in Cleveland.
The battle to replace the vacant seat left by Republican Rob Portman has become a race that is not only being watched statewide, but nationally.
A win by Vance in November would help give Republicans control of the Senate.
Vance, who despite getting endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has not received the political bump many expected.
"I think he's underperformed as a candidate, underperformed in fundraising and underperformed in the polls. I think he's underperformed in terms of controlling the conversation. One of the central tasks for a candidate is the ability to impose themselves on the conversation and I don't think Vance has done that productively," said David Nien, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati.
The candidates differ from each other on a variety of issues.
Vance is the candidate who wants universities to stop funding Critical Race Theory and supports parents' choice for picking their children's access to education.
Ryan supports banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in all areas of society. He's also working to ensure LGBTQ+ veterans get the healthcare.
While Vance wants to eliminate abortion, Ryan supports funding Planned Parenthood and wants to codify Roe v. Wade.
Ryan supports expanding background checks on guns and wants to expand racial bias training in police departments. Vance says he will fight any laws that weaken the Second Amendment.
Paul Beck, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Ohio Sate, believes the pressure is on Vance to do well tonight because he's not doing as well in the polls, and many thought he would.
"I think a lot of pressure is on him, at least according to the polls and that's all we have to go on. It's a nip and tuck campaign between those two candidates. Vance has to hope to try to hold the Trump base in place, many of whom were former Democrats," he said.
In August, Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund committed $28 million to supporting Vance, a remarkably large investment in a race many Republicans had hoped their side would dominate.
Both Ryan and Vance are Ohio natives, both have tailored their messages to the white working class of Ohio, and both are from economically hard-hit cities that thriving manufacturing firms once called home.
Ryan grew up in Niles, a small industrial city in the northeast corner of the state.
Vance grew up in Middletown, a once-thriving steel mill town in southwest Ohio.