Senator Rob Portman of Ohio has officially dropped out of the 2016 presidential campaign after never officially dropping into it in the first place. The Republican senator from Cincinnati announced Tuesday that he has decided against running for the GOP nomination in 2016.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, Portman said that with the recent midterm elections having given the Republican Party a majority in the Senate, he now believes he can “play the most constructive role” by staying on as one of Ohio’s two senators.
“I don’t think I can run for president and be an effective senator at the same time,” said Portman.
Should Portman win re-election to a second term in 2016, he said he will spend his time as a senator being active on issues such as tax code reform, budget reform, energy independence, job creation and ending what he called, “the overreach by the Obama Administration.”
Portman has been a frequent critic of President Barack Obama, but is also known as a moderate and bipartisan at a time when both chambers of Congress have suffered from uncooperative extremism. He is notable for being one of the only high-profile Republicans to officially support gay marriage after his son came out as a gay man. In 2013, he was one of 10 Republicans who voted for the Employee Non-Discrimination Act.
During the 2012 Presidential Election, Portman was one of five Republicans closely considered for the GOP vice presidential nomination. He was given the codename “Filet-O-Fish” by Mitt Romney’s campaign staff, who assigned fish-related names to all five contenders. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin was ultimately chosen for the position (his codename was “Fishconsin,” if anyone was wondering.)
In his statement Tuesday, Portman said he appreciates the many people have encouraged him to run for president, but that “my focus will remain on Ohio and running for re-election to the Senate in 2016.”
It’s been suggested that in his bid for re-election, Portman may face a challenge from Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, who announced last week that he will not seek a fifth mayoral term. Coleman denied, however, that he had been asked to run for US Senate or had thought about running.
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