Rob Portman's Perfect Campaign

The Ohio senator has surged by hyper-localizing his reelection bid.

- Eliana Johnson

OHIO STADIUM, or “The Shoe,” is a sea of scarlet, gray, and white as fans stream in to see the Buckeyes face off against the University of Tulsa. Football here is a quasi-religious experience. But today, another set of fans is present. The school’s baseball team, drinking beer and lounging under a tent outside the stadium when a 60-year-old man materializes in its midst, starts cheering and chanting, “Rob! Rob! Rob!”—and then, moments later, “Portman! Port-man! Port-man!”

The unlikely subject of this fandom is Rob Portman, Ohio’s junior senator. He prefers kayaking and mountain biking, but as he awkwardly swings a make believe bat in the team’s direction, they only cheer more loudly. Portman is up for reelection in what was supposed to be a grueling battle against the state’s former Democratic governor, Ted Strickland. But he has found support in unlikely places: from college sports teams, yes, but also from a number of unions that had never before endorsed a Republican in Ohio, and that are backing Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.