Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman won't run for re-election in 2022, citing 'partisan gridlock'

(Image credit: JOSHUA ROBERTS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

published 25 January 2021

Ohio will have a new senator after the 2022 midterm elections.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced Monday that he won't seek re-election after his second term ends in 2022, reports The Cincinnati Enquirer. It sounds like the political polarization in Congress is a major reason for his departure. In a statement, Portman, who has built a reputation as one of the more bipartisan lawmakers in the Senate, said "it has gotten harder and harder to break through the partisan gridlock and make progress on substantive policy." He also told the Enquirer that "if we continue pushing out to the right and to the left, there's not going to be much left in the middle to solve the real problems we face."

Portman said he isn't sure who will run to replace him, but noted "there's plenty of candidates out there." The Enquirer reports the seat is expected to remain safely Republican, and possibilities include Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken, former Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel, and J.D. Vance, the author of the memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Read more at The Cincinnati Enquirer.