For years and a few election cycles now, Donald Trump has been the litmus test for Republican candidates.
With Trump winning Ohio in 2020 but losing the presidency, it's cast a bit of doubt over the former president's hold on his party.
Or has it?

"I think it's still very very strong," says YSU political science professor Dr. Paul Sracic.

In the 11th hour of the Senate primary in Ohio, Matt Dolan overtook Josh Mandel's second place spot in the latest Trafalgar poll.
Dr. Sracic says the four candidates tying themselves to Trump have split the vote - and in turn made room for Dolan.

"He was the one who would not ask for Trump's endorsement and in fact openly opposed Trump on some issues," Sracic said Monday, pointing out that a Trump endorsement - in this case JD Vance - wouldn't necessarily mean Vance would be a shoo-in.

"His voters might abandon him (Trump). That doesn't mean they won't still vote for him, say, for president, or not still like him, but you'll often hear them saying he's been misled."

Former Mahoning County GOP chair Mark Munroe believes Trump still enjoys a large and enthusiastic voting base - which downballot candidates still want to reach.

"Donald Trump is a driving force in Republican politics," Munroe said. "Many of these candidates have had support behind them for weeks and weeks and weeks. The Trump endorsement came kind of late in the process."

Munroe says that - combined with this being a low turnout election - makes it much harder to gauge what impact Trump's influence could have.
He feels 2024 could be the real 'Trump test'.