A contender for U.S. Senate is raising the stakes by hiring some big players in statewide and national politics.Republican investment banker Mike Gibbons hired the digital team that helped Donald Trump’s presidential run. And he hired Chris Schrimpf, a former spokesperson for the White House campaign of John Kasich, a Trump critic. Schrimpf says this shows Gibbons is serious.“He’s focused on the people not what his next political career is. This is his first run for office and he’s doing it because he has a desire to serve and he's the most qualified person to do it.”Schrimpf says Gibbons can stack up against Josh Mandel in the Republican primary and Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in the general because of his status as an outsider and his business experience.Gibbons collected $700,000 in a few weeks of fundraising. Mandel has about $3.3 million in his war chest. Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.
The Statehouse News Bureau provides educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations.
Gibbons Turns Up Heat In U.S. Senate Bid
![](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c7906d7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/935x521+0+0/resize/880x490!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F%5Bcurrent-date%3Acustom%3AY%5D%2F%5Bcurrent-date%3Acustom%3Am%5D%2F542236850_1979349158.jpg)