Josh Mandel continues his crusade against sanctuary cities and reaches out to a Twitter critic. Six is a magic number for Rob Portman. And questions about the political futures of Richard Cordray and J.D. Vance persist. Read more in Ohio Politics Roundup.

Just Joshin': Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has been planning a rematch with Sen. Sherrod Brown for a while. But with his hat now officially in the ring, Mandel is doing more to raise his profile and push a political message that helped propel Donald Trump to the White House.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Mandel's recent crusade against so-called sanctuary cities. Last week he joined with fellow Republicans in Cincinnati to denounce Democratic city officials there who refuse to partner with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws.

On Monday, cleveland.com's Jackie Borchardt writes, Mandel threw "his support behind a proposed bill to ban 'sanctuary cities' and hold local elected officials who buck the ban criminally liable for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants."

Mandel was unable to offer an example in Ohio where an undocumented immigrant was released and then committed a serious crime. He sees the legislation as a proactive move.

State Rep. Candice Keller will sponsor the bill. The Middletown Republican "blamed immigrants and their 'culture' for committing crimes, including assaults and rape, and bringing in 'sexually transmitted diseases,'" the Columbus Dispatch's Alan Johnson reports.

"Keller," writes the Cincinnati Enquirer's Jessie Balmert, "rode a wave of Trump support to win a spot in the Ohio Statehouse over the Butler County GOP's endorsed pick."

Mandel is fundraising off the issue: "This push to allow sanctuary cities is happening all over the country," he wrote in Monday campaign email. "I'm committed to stopping it. I'm committed to being a strong voice in the Senate against this kind of lawlessness. I don't know about you, but I think we need more conservative fighters in Washington. We need to drain the swamp, starting with one of the worst offenders: Sherrod Brown. ... I am asking you to dig deep."

Coincidence or confrontation? On Jan. 21, Aimee Gilman tapped out the first in a series of tweets blasting Mandel -- a missive that accused him, without corroboration, of not supporting the disabled. Three days later, Mandel telephoned the civil rights attorney directly, asking for help in promoting his STABLE investment accounts for people with disabilities.

Mandel's spokesman characterized the call as a coincidence that shows the treasurer is committed to involving key community leaders in the program. When told Gilman believed her criticism provoked the call, the spokesman dismissed her as someone with "black helicopter conspiracy theories flying around." I have more on the Gilman-Mandel exchange here.

Away game: Brown took in some basketball -- and some dollars from donors -- Monday night at the Verizon Center in Washington, where the defending world champion Cleveland Cavaliers played the Wizards. It wasn't the first time Brown held a Cavs-related fundraiser in D.C.

Brown to vote against Scott Pruitt: He announced Monday that he won't support Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. "Of six cabinet votes held so far ... Brown has supported four and opposed two," the Toledo Blade's Tom Troy notes.

Why Rob Portman isn't worried about Betsy DeVos: The Ohio Republican's compassionate conservatism might have some Democrats eyeing him as a swing vote today when the Senate decides whether to confirm Trump's nominee for secretary of Education. But cleveland.com's Stephen Koff examines Portman's political reasons for supporting DeVos.

"He doesn't have to run for another six years," Koff notes. "This matters because some DeVos opponents say they will work to defeat him if votes for confirmation. Six years is a long time, and so many things can happen between now and then that the threats may lose their relevance." 

Yeah, this isn't gonna work: After Portman announced he would vote for DeVos, "Liz Plotnick-Snay started looking for a way to change the Ohio Republican's mind. The Columbus-based business consultant settled on a Go Fund Me page asking like-minded Ohioans to try to match the approximately $50,000 in campaign contributions that DeVos and her family members have donated to Portman's two Senate campaigns," USA Today's Deirdre Shesgreen writes.

"'If Betsy DeVos can buy Senator Portman's vote, we should be allowed to do the same,' she writes on the page, which has raised about $4,600 so far. ... She said she will give the money to the Ohio Federation of Teachers in Portman's name if he changes his mind."

A Portman spokesman said the effort will not sway the senator.

Talk it out: Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Democrats, hoping in part to find just one vote that would kill DeVos's confirmation, were talking through the afternoon and night Monday in a mock filibuster, reports Koff.

"The tactic is partly a protest to make Republicans wait out the full time required under Senate rules before any nominee can be confirmed," Koff writes. "Look for additional sessions like this later this week, starting with one on attorney general-nominee Jeff Sessions, said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's office." 

Richrolling? "Allies of President Donald Trump are building a legal case for ousting Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau who one court called 'the single most powerful official' in government after the president," Politico's Lorraine Woellert and Josh Dawsey report. "Firing him would ignite a political fuse that could cause more damage than it's worth to his foes. Even some Trump advisers are ambivalent about the idea, saying it might be easier to live with Cordray until his term expires in July 2018."

Remember: A Cordray ouster, if upheld by the courts, would give the former Ohio attorney general a compelling story to tell if he decides to return home and run for governor. As it stands, the Democratic field remains unsettled until Trump's and Cordray's intentions are clearer.

Kasich contradictions: Ohio Gov. John Kasich misrepresented his record last week when discussing his veto of a six-week abortion ban, Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.

"'First of all, it's not constitutional and secondly, I'm not signing anything that doesn't have an exception for rape, incest or the life of the mother,'" Kasich said. "But Kasich did sign a 20-week abortion ban with an exception for the life of the woman, but not for rape or incest."

Brutal headline: "Kasich has his own 'alternative fact' issues," The Columbus Dispatch, referring to that inaccuracy and another Kasich fact fumble, posted online.

Larson lands: Jeff Larson, who served as CEO of last summer's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, is returning to the Republican National Committee as a senior adviser, the RNC announced Monday. Larson was the party's chief of staff during the 2012 cycle.

Preparing for Pelanda: At a Republican luncheon Monday in Mansfield, State Rep. Dorothy Pelanda of Marysville said she soon will launch her campaign for secretary of state, WMFD.com reports. She could face a GOP primary against State Sen. Frank LaRose of Copley.

Vance advancing? Everyone wants to know if "Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance's imminent return to Ohio will lead to a career in Republican politics. (I asked about it in my one-on-one with him late last year.) The answer is usually a variation of "never say never."

Vance opens up a little more to the Washington Post's Karen Heller.

"I'm certainly interested in public service over the long term," he says. "But it sort of bothers me, the presumption at the age of 32, that if someone is saying interesting things, and has interesting insights, why isn't he running for office? ... I think running a small nonprofit to work on the opioid crisis and bring interesting new businesses to the so-called Rust Belt -- all of these things are valuable, if not more valuable, than running for office. ... So I will say I'm not running for office right now, which is true. But it's sort of dishonest and, sort of, like, cagey."

Get Battleground Briefing, our FREE politics newsletter, delivered to your inbox: Sign up here. Tips or links? Send here. Follow along on Twitter: @HenryJGomez.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.