Portman: Trump will help election, but no interest in VP spot

VIENNA

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman said having billionaire businessman Donald Trump lead the Republican ticket as its presidential nominee will “be a positive in the end” for his re-election bid.

“I’ve got a lot of friends frankly who normally don’t vote and they came out and voted for [Trump], and they don’t consider themselves Republicans normally,” Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, said Thursday. “But they strongly support [Trump]. He’ll bring new people to the party, no question about it.”

Portman, seeking re-election this year with ex-Gov. Ted Strickland as his Democratic challenger, also said he has “no interest” in being Trump’s vice-presidential running mate.

Read more of his remarks in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.