Former NFL wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez won his GOP congressional primary on Tuesday, a big boost for establishment Republicans who had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him win in the red-leaning district.
Gonzalez defeated state Rep. Christina Hagan by a 13-point margin in the primary for the Ohio 16th Congressional District. Gonzalez will move on to the general election against Democrat Susan Moran Palmer, with the Republican heavily favored in a district President Trump won by 17 points in 2016.
{mosads}
Gonzalez is well known among fans of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team — his late-game reception against the Michigan Wolverines, the Buckeyes’s bitter rivals, in 2005 helped clinch the game and a spot for Gonzalez in Ohio State lore.
He entered his first congressional race as the favorite, outraising Hagan by an almost 3-to-1 margin during the campaign. And he got a late boost from the Chamber of Commerce, which spent $300,000 on his behalf.
But Hagan ran hard to Gonzalez’s right, framing herself as an ardent supporter of President Trump. Along the way, she won the backing of Trump allies like former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci as well as top conservatives like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and the Family Research Council.
Gonzalez will face Palmer in November’s general election for outgoing Rep. Jim Renacci’s (R) seat.
Renacci won the Republican primary for Senate on Tuesday and will square off with incumbent Sherrod Brown (D) in November.