CINCINNATI – A Republican candidate running in one of the most closely watched House races in the country is firing back in defense of Trump’s VP candidate JD Vance after his opponent, Rep. Greg Landsman, claimed Vance does not represent the people of southwest Ohio.
“What I’ve got to say to my opponent is you’ve got to look in the mirror,” Orlando Sonza told Fox News Digital in response to a lengthy X thread from Landsman outlining why he believes Vance does not properly represent southwest Ohio.
In the thread, Landsman called Vance “weird” and said, “Mr. Vance and I live just a few miles away from one another. We both grew up in Butler County. But my values – and the values of the people I represent – couldn’t be further apart from his.”
“His views and beliefs don’t represent Southwest Ohio,” Landsman added before launching into criticisms of things Vance has said.
“I mean, you’ve got to realize that your very own policies actually prove that you’re out of step with, the people of southwest Ohio,” Sonza said.
Sonza hit Landsman on a variety of past positions, including immigration and policing that he argues are not in line with what the majority of voters in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District believe.
“When you are for an open southern border and have flip-flopped on this border issue, and your last position taken is that you’re going to not denounce the failed Biden administration policies that have caused our open southern border and by direct correlation, again, cause the problems we’re seeing here in southwest Ohio,” Sonza said.
“You’ve got to answer for that. When you’ve taken a position that you are for just complete government overspending to where there’s zero cuts. In fact, your first position when the debt-ceiling infighting materialized last year was to raise the debt ceiling with zero cuts in spending. You have to answer for that.”
Sonza continued, “So who’s the one that’s out of step, with Ohio voters? It’s my opponent. So he’s got to have to look in the mirror and answer for that, and he will answer for that. Come, come November. He has to.”
Sonza also hit Landsman as a candidate who is “not for parents making the best educational decision for your kids and voting against the parental bill of rights.”
“You’ve got to answer for that,” Sonza said. “When you are for defunding the police while you’ve been on Cincinnati City Council, you got to answer for that when you called for Cincinnati to be a sanctuary city in 2017. Greg Landsman, you’ve got to answer for that. So who’s the one that’s out of step with Ohio voters? it’s my opponent. So he’s got to have to look in the mirror and answer for that.”
Sonza went on to tell Fox News Digital that despite Democratic criticisms and reported concerns from some conservatives, Vance was the right choice for the job as vice president.
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“JD Vance is not just a friend,” Sonza, a West Point graduate and former officer in the U.S. Army, explained. “He is a very, very strong candidate for vice president and that’s why it’s no surprise to me that President Trump selected him out of a long list of potential VP candidates to be on the ticket with him.
“We don’t only see strength coming out of JD Vance as a father, a veteran, an entrepreneur, someone that has a story like mine that is the American dream coming from nothing and then, through your own hard work and dedication, have made something for yourself in service to community, country, family. But we see that he’s delivered for Ohio.”
Sonza said Vance has “delivered for the American people” in his “short tenure” in the Senate and that the American people are looking for “that exact type of leadership.”
“I fully back JD Vance in being on the ticket,” Sonza said. “I think not only is it strong for the country, it is absolutely strong for Ohio, because at the end of the day, you’ve got to deliver and in JD Vance, we’ve seen him deliver time and time again already as our U.S. senator, and I’m confident he’s going to do that as our next vice president.”
The Cook Political Report ranks the 1st District race as “likely Democrat” but Republicans have dedicated resources to the race. Landsman won by just over five points in 2022.
Ohio’s 1st District consists of the city of Cincinnati and all of Warren County.
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Landsman has hit Sonza on the issue of abortion, while Sonza has made the economy and overall quality of life top issues in his campaign.
“It’s not a very bright future unless we change course and this November is the way to do it,” Sonza told Fox News Digital. “It’s whether we’re going to give them a stronger economy, whether we’re going to give them a safer community, whether we’re going to give them a better education system than we have now. All those things really impact not just my generation, not just the generation before me, but the generation after us.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Landsman campaign spokesperson said, “Greg is a bipartisan leader with a record of delivering for the people of southwest Ohio.”
“Greg voted to hold Biden accountable on the border, he helped to get us a bipartisan border fix, and now he’s trying to get it on the floor now for a vote. Greg was part of the bipartisan group that found a solution to ensure we avoided a catastrophic default. During his time on Cincinnati City Council, Greg led the bipartisan budget process that increased police spending by $20 million, and he was the driving force behind the addition of a second recruit class just before he was elected to Congress.”
The spokesperson added, “While Greg has been working across the aisle to do what’s best for his constituents, Sonza, who doesn’t even live in the district, seems to do nothing but spout far right-wing DC talking points.”
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