At a Thursday forum for Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate candidates, all but one told voters their COVID-19 vaccination status.

At the forum, moderators asked candidates Mike Gibbons, Bernie Moreno, Jane Timken, J.D. Vance, Mark Pukita, and Josh Mandel whether or not they were vaccinated and why. All of the candidates answered the question except Mandel, according to Cleveland.com.

DEMOCRATS WORRIED LONG-SHOT CANDIDATES ARE TAKING UP VALUABLE RESOURCES IN MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Mandel, a former state treasurer, has described his vaccination status as a personal issue, and he came under fire last month for comparing government vaccination efforts to Nazi Germany.

Most of the candidates said they are vaccinated against COVID-19 while stressing they oppose mandates.

“Yeah, look, I mean, I got the shot because I was going around to a lot of political events, and I didn’t want to get my family sick,” Vance said.

Timken praised former President Donald Trump as “a businessman who delivered these vaccines.”

“Look, I’m vaccinated,” Timken said. “I made that choice. It’s a personal choice I made in consultation with my doctor.”

Only Pukita, a long-shot candidate, said he is not vaccinated, a remark which reportedly “drew a large round of applause from the audience of about 200 people.”

An internal poll last month showed Mandel leading the crowded field to replace Sen. Rob Portman, a Republican who plans to retire at the end of his term.

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COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination mandates from the government or from private employers have become a hot-button issue in GOP primaries across the country. September marked the first month a majority of Republicans, 56%, said they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a Gallup poll, that also found “Republicans retain the lowest vaccination rate of any major subgroup of Americans.”

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Tags: News, Vaccination, Josh Mandel, JD Vance, Ohio, Senate

Original Author: Kate Scanlon

Original Location: Josh Mandel refuses to disclose vaccination status during Ohio Senate forum