CINCINNATI — A Republican candidate in the nation’s most closely watched House race is fighting back against President Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, after his opponent, Rep. Greg Landsman, claimed Vance doesn’t represent southwest Ohio residents.
““My advice to my opponents is to look in the mirror,” Orlando Sonza told Fox News Digital. Long X thread Landsman outlined why he believes Vance does not adequately represent Southwest Ohio.
In the thread, Landsman called Vance a “kook” and said, “Vance and I live just a few miles apart. We both grew up in Butler County. But my values, and the values of the people I represent, couldn’t be further from his values.”
“His views and beliefs do not represent Southwest Ohio,” Landsman added, before launching into a criticism of Vance’s comments.
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Orlando Sonza will face off against Greg Landsman in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District. (Getty Images)
“So you need to recognize that your policies themselves demonstrate that you are out of step with the people of Southwest Ohio,” Sonza said.
Sonza criticized a number of Landsman’s past positions, including on immigration and policing, which he said are out of line with the views of the majority of voters in Ohio’s 1st Congressional District.
““While he supports an open southern border, he flip-flopped on this border issue and his final position was to not condemn the failed Biden administration policies that caused the open southern border and, by direct correlation, created the problems we are seeing again in southwest Ohio,” Sonza said.
“You have to take responsibility for that. You’ve taken the position that you’re in favor of completely overspending government to the point of zero cuts. In fact, when the infighting over the debt ceiling became real last year, your initial position was to cut spending to zero and raise the debt ceiling. You have to take responsibility for that.”“
Sonza continued, “So who is out of step with the voters of Ohio? It’s my opponent. So he has to look himself in the eye and take responsibility for that, and he’s going to take responsibility for that, come November, he’s going to have to.”
Sonza also criticized Landsman as a candidate who “does not support parents making the best educational decisions for their children and voted against a parental bill of rights.”
“You have to take responsibility for that,” Sonza said. “You supported cutting the police budget when you were a Cincinnati City Councilman, and you also have to take responsibility when you called for Cincinnati to be a sanctuary city in 2017. Greg Landsman, you have to take responsibility for that. So who is out of step with the voters of Ohio? It’s my opponent. So he has to look in the mirror and take responsibility for that.”
Sonza told Fox News Digital that Democrats Criticism Despite reported concerns from some conservatives, Vance was the right choice to be vice president.
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Former President Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance (Fox News)
““J.D. Vance is more than just a friend,” explained Sonza, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer. “He is an extremely strong running mate, which is why it is no surprise to me that President Trump selected him from a long list of running mates to run with him.”
“Not only do we see the strength that comes from J.D. Vance as a father, a veteran, an entrepreneur and someone with a story like mine of coming from nothing to realizing the American Dream and then through his own hard work and dedication, achieving something for his community, his country and his family, but we also see the service he has given to the state of Ohio.”
Sonza said Vance has “served the American people well” in his “short tenure” as a senator, and that Americans need “exactly the type of leadership.”
“I fully support J.D. Vance’s candidacy,” Sonza said. “I think he’ll be absolutely a great force for not only the country, but for the state of Ohio. At the end of the day, you have to deliver results, and J.D. Vance has already delivered results many times as a United States senator, and I’m confident he’ll do that as our next vice president.”
The Cook Political Report rates the 1st District race as “Democrat-favored,” but Republicans Dedicated Resources Race in. In 2022, Landsman won by just five points.
Ohio’s 1st District consists of the city of Cincinnati and all of Warren County.
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Congressman Greg Landsman speaks at a press conference. (Getty)
Lanzmann attacked Sonza on the issue of abortion, while Sonza has made the economy and overall quality of life a central issue in his campaign.
““Unless we change course, we’re not going to have a bright future, and this November is the time to do that,” Sonza told Fox News Digital. “It’s about whether we give you a stronger economy, it’s about whether we give you safer communities, it’s about whether we give you a better education system than we have now. All of these things really impact not just my generation, not just the generation before me, but the generation after us.”“
“Greg is a bipartisan leader with a proven track record of serving the people of Southwest Ohio,” a spokesperson for Landsman’s campaign said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Greg voted to hold Biden accountable on the border and helped craft a bipartisan border solution that is now on the floor for a vote. Greg was part of the bipartisan group that found a solution to avoid a catastrophic default. As a Cincinnati City Councilman, he led a bipartisan budget process that increased police spending by $20 million and pushed for the addition of a second freshman class just before being elected to Congress.”
The spokesman added: “As an opponent, Greg is doing his best to serve his constituents, while Sonza, who doesn’t live in the district, appears to only be voicing far-right Washington sentiment.”
