Gov. Mike DeWine mum on whether he'll back Trump. Says he'll back Senate primary winner

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, the state's top Republican, isn't disclosing his picks for president or U.S. Senate, which features a heated three-way GOP primary.

"We have three very good people running for the United States Senate and whoever wins the primary, I will support that individual for United States Senate," DeWine said Thursday. State Sen. Matt Dolan, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno are running for the chance to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

"And the presidential is a little early," DeWine added.

The Iowa Republican presidential caucuses are Monday, and Ohio voters will head to the polls on March 19. Early voting in Ohio starts Feb. 21. Former President Donald Trump holds a substantial lead in the polls over challengers like former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

DeWine has endorsed Trump in the past, serving as the former president's campaign co-chair in 2020. And Trump backed DeWine's gubernatorial campaigns in 2018 and 2022.

But Trump recently criticized DeWine over the GOP governor's veto of House Bill 68, which restricts transgender medical care for minors and bans transgender girls from participating in female sports.

"DeWine has fallen to the Radical Left," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "I’m finished with this 'stiff.' What was he thinking?"

DeWine said parents, not the government, should make decisions about their transgender children's health care. He later banned transgender surgery on minors, which hospital officials said wasn't happening anyway.

However, Republicans in the Ohio House of Representatives voted to override DeWine's veto Wednesday and the GOP-controlled Senate is expected to do the same later this month.

Other Republicans in the state are throwing their support behind Trump, including GOP Sen. J.D. Vance. The Ohio Republican Party endorsed Trump for president in December − the first state party to do so.

Trump offered his own endorsement in the Ohio Senate race, backing Moreno. Trump's backing proved helpful in 2022 when Vance won the former president's nod over a crowded field to replace Sen. Rob Portman.

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Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Gov. DeWine isn't sharing his picks for president, Ohio Senate