GOP Senate Candidate Critical of Trump Vaults into Second Right Behind J.D. Vance in New Poll

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Matt Dolan is polling right behind J.D. Vance in the Ohio GOP Senate primary, just hours before voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

A Trafalgar Group poll released Monday shows Vance leading a crowded field of candidates with 26.2% of the vote. Dolan is right behind him with 22%.

Josh Mandel, who was spurned by Trump, is in third place with 20.8%.

Trafalgar Group

Mike Gibbons, Jane Timken, Mark Pukita and Neil Patel lag behind significantly, while 8.6% of the survey’s respondents were undecided in the Election Day eve poll.

The poll was conducted form April 29 to May 1, and surveyed 1,081 likely GOP primary voters. Trafalgar reported a margin of error of +/- 2.99%.

Dolan’s apparent late surge in the race is peculiar. The candidate has a chance to test former President Donald Trump‘s perceived role as king maker in the Republican Party.

POLITICO recently called Dolan the “Republican who refuses to bend the knee to Trump.”

“The state senator has declined to kiss the ring, and instead run as a traditional conservative — pouring $10.6 million of his own money into the effort,” Natalie Allison reported.

Trump endorsed Vance in the race last month. He recognized the Hillbilly Elegy author’s previous stance as a Never Trump Republican.

Vance has now embraced Trump, whereas Dolan has forged ahead without seeking the support of the former president.

“When I made my decision to get into the race, I knew that it was going to be a tough slog, at least publicly, for a while,” Dolan recently. “I knew that I would not be doing well in the polls until much, much later in the campaign. I think it’s playing out as I thought it was going to play out.” Allison noted of the state legislator:

Dolan is the lone candidate who refuses to toe the Trump line. He has accused the former president of “perpetuat[ing] lies about the outcome” of the 2020 election. He called the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol a “failure of leadership” by Trump and an “attack on democracy.” At a March 21 debate, Dolan was the only candidate to raise his hand when the moderator asked who believed it was time for Trump to stop talking about the 2020 election.