CLEVELAND — Chuck Todd, host and moderator for NBC's "Meet the Press" and the political director of NBC News, is making a swing through Northeast Ohio.
On Monday, Todd stopped by WKYC Studios for a one-on-one interview with 3News anchor and managing editor Russ Mitchell. With the midterm elections only about a month away, the political climate in Ohio and across the nation is warming up.
"This is a state that is definitely trending Republican," Todd told Mitchell in their conversation. "At the same time you have three fairly large urban centers in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland that mirror our national politics where the cities and suburbs are blue, or at least light blue. What's unclear to me is where are Cincinnati and Cleveland heading as population centers? Are they going to catch fire the way Columbus has? If they do, that changes the state's politics again. If they remain stagnant, this is a state that is going to look a lot more like Indiana politically over the next decade."
One of the key races in the U.S. Senate next month will be the battle in Ohio between Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat, and Trump-backed Republican J.D. Vance for the right to replace the retiring Sen. Rob Portman. Todd is looking to see how many Republicans will turn out to cast their ballot for the venture capitalist and "Hillbilly Eligy" author.
"He's (Vance) got the advantage in that there are just more Republicans than Democrats. Tim Ryan has to do something that many Democrats don't successfully do: win over a bunch of right-leaning voters in order to get to 50%," Todd explained. "What I'll be curious to see is the tone of Vance's campaign in this last month. The polls are close, but the Democrats nationally don't really believe they can win in Ohio."
Todd and Mitchell talked more about the upcoming midterms, plus what it's like to cover national politics during a time when both parties seemingly hate each other. You can watch the entire interview in the player below:
Todd is also in town to speak with students at John Carroll University's Tim Russert School of Communication. He will also appear at the City Club of Cleveland on Tuesday morning.
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