CINCINNATI – One candidate has been circulating a who's-done-more-for-Donald Trump scorecard. Footage of a waving Trump was dropped without context into a TV ad for another.
A photo posted to Twitter gushes over the ex-president and his wife stopping by a third candidate's fundraiser just to say hello.
The U.S. Senate primary in Ohio is still a year away, but Republican contenders already are working furiously to cast themselves as Trump's favorite in the open race.
That work can be awkward and far from subtle. But it is a measure of how badly the candidates covet a Trump endorsement in a state the former president twice carried by 8 percentage-point margins.