Does the Trump-Vance endorsement still hold weight? Ohio, Indiana hold primaries today

[0:00] Let's bring in MSNOW's Will McDuffie in Cleveland, Ohio, and in Indiana, [0:04] Nikki Kelly, editor-in-chief of the Indiana Capitol Chronicle. [0:08] Also with us, Bloomberg White House correspondent Jeff Mason. [0:11] We'll break down the key races we're watching today there in Ohio for us. [0:15] Governor and U.S. Senate, Ana, and look, we're not expecting much drama tonight. [0:21] The general election matchups in both of those races are pretty much locked in, [0:25] but there's a national focus on Ohio this year because even though it's a state that we've seen [0:30] shift drastically toward Republicans over the last decade, Democrats think they have [0:35] major pickup opportunities for the U.S. Senate seat and for a governor. [0:40] First of all, on the governor's race, they think they can capitalize on the polarization [0:44] of the Republican, likely Republican nominee Vivek Ramaswamy, the firebrand biotech entrepreneur [0:50] who ran for president, co-founded Doge. [0:53] And on the Senate side, they believe that Sherrod Brown, the longtime senator who served [0:57] three terms before losing in 2024, can be just the thing that the party needs to retake Ohio [1:03] and help them retake the Senate majority. [1:06] They need at least four pickup seats in order to do that, Ana. [1:11] And we see Vance there in Cincinnati, Ohio, the vice president, [1:16] participating in the primaries in his home state today. [1:20] Will, what are you hearing from voters as they head to the polls? [1:23] Well, Ana, you talk to people here and you kind of understand one of the reasons Democrats [1:30] think this could be a pickup opportunity, because folks are really frustrated with the [1:34] state of the economy right now. [1:36] We took some time yesterday and went out to Lorain, which is a Rust Belt town on Lake Erie. [1:41] It's actually where Sherrod Brown built his political career as a congressman. [1:46] And we heard from folks just speaking to them on the streets of downtown that they're struggling [1:50] right now. [1:50] Let's take a listen. [1:51] Places are shutting down up along the storefronts here. [1:59] They can't seem to keep as many places open. [2:05] Just not enough money going around. [2:08] This big, beautiful building helped me. [2:11] It didn't help me in the least. [2:13] If anything, it's one of the reasons I'm having to go back to work. [2:17] You look at the price at the gas pump and you're like, wow, is that real? [2:21] I guess it is. [2:22] So you try to avoid it a little bit. [2:24] You don't fill it up all the way. [2:25] And Ana, just in a couple of conversations we've had with people coming into the polling [2:32] site here in Cleveland, same thing. [2:34] Economy on everybody's mind, Ana. [2:37] OK. [2:37] And of course, Cameron's still trained on the vice president. [2:40] We'll see if he ends up talking to reporters after he votes. [2:42] Will McDuffie, thank you. [2:44] Keep us posted from Ohio. [2:45] So, Jeff, we're just, you know, hearing from these voters more and more who are disillusioned [2:50] about the economy and upset, angry, disappointed in the president. [2:57] Is that going to be enough for Democrats like Sherrod Brown to flip red seats in November [3:01] in their quest to retake the House and the Senate? [3:03] Well, that's the question. [3:05] And certainly it's going to be, I don't think it's easy in a state like Ohio that has certainly [3:10] swung very much to the right and to the red column in the last several elections for a [3:16] Democrat to win at a statewide level. [3:20] But that said, those clips that you just played from Will's interviews were striking to me in [3:28] part because of the demographic. [3:29] It was those were all white men who were interviewed. [3:32] And that is usually, at least in the last election, a demographic that has been leading [3:38] more towards Republicans. [3:41] And it's the Rust Belt in general. [3:44] And that is also an area that Republicans have been very successful in in Ohio and other states [3:50] around the country. [3:51] So if I were a political strategist in the White House right now, those types of quotes would be [3:57] very concerning to me. [3:58] And they no doubt are to this White House. [4:00] And that's one reason why you've seen the president intervening to some extent in some [4:05] of these local elections and endorsing people in those state races in Indiana and really working [4:15] hard on the redistricting push as an attempt anyway to try to have some last minute, not [4:21] super last minute, but in the scheme of things, last minute influence over that November election [4:25] that keeps taking closer and closer every day. [4:27] You just made the perfect segue into my next question for Nikki, who is all over what's [4:34] happening there in Indiana. [4:35] And redistricting does seem to be the key word. [4:38] President Trump endorsing seven primary challengers running against Republican state senators who [4:44] voted against his congressional redistricting push there. [4:47] So Nikki, what are you watching for today? [4:49] Yeah, I mean, I think what we're all expecting to see tonight is how much weight does the Trump [4:55] endorsement have in Indiana? [4:57] Obviously, Indiana is a massively red state and we've been first on the board for President [5:03] Trump in the past. [5:04] But, you know, we're also talking down ballot races. [5:08] You know, these are more local races with longtime incumbents who really have deep ties in their [5:14] communities. [5:14] And so there's a question of whether a presidential endorsement will outweigh those ties. [5:20] Yeah, and I understand the airwaves have been flooded with ads with nearly $12 million spent [5:28] on these state Senate races. [5:30] Just for perspective for our viewers, less than $500,000 was spent on those races in 2024. [5:36] This year, $12 million. [5:38] Nikki, is all that money having an impact? [5:42] Yeah, I think it will. [5:43] Obviously, most of it's coming from outside groups, whether it's Turning Point USA or Club [5:50] for Growth, those kinds of things, but also some from our internal Senate Majority Campaign [5:56] Committee. [5:57] It's gotten pretty nasty in some of the races. [6:00] And so I think the Trump allied folks will pick up a few of these incumbent seats, but it [6:07] certainly won't be a sweep.