Florida's Marco Rubio to hit the Ohio campaign trail for U.S. Senate hopeful Josh Mandel

Last week Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel officially announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate -- a formality, given he already was on the ballot and had been openly running for the seat for months.

This week Mandel easily won the Republican nomination.

And now that he seems to be humming along, Mandel has recruited one of the GOP's rising stars to campaign for him.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will join Mandel for a "grassroots" event Monday in Dayton, according to an email this evening from Mandel's campaign.

The event is scheduled from 8 to 9 p.m. at Wright State University's Nutter Center.

The appearance could help Rubio as much as it helps Mandel. The freshman senator is often mentioned as a potential running mate for the eventual Republican presidential nominee. And Ohio is a key swing state with a VP prospect of its own: U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, who is generating a fresh round of buzz after Mitt Romney's victory in the Buckeye State primary this week.

Mandel will face incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown in the November general election. Justin Barasky, a spokesman for Brown's campaign, has accused Mandel of neglecting his duties as treasurer while preparing his Senate candidacy.

"Josh Mandel holding yet another campaign fundraiser isn't news," Barasky said via email when asked about the Rubio event. "Josh Mandel explaining why he would have voted to let Ohio's auto industry die or actually doing his job as treasurer by attending a Board of Deposit meeting, that would be news."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/03/floridas_marco_rubio_to_hit_th.html

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