Columbus, Ohio – Today, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will officially endorse State Treasurer of Ohio Josh Mandel in the race to defeat incumbent U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Treasurer Mandel is the first candidate to be endorsed by the Chamber this election cycle, signifying how important the Ohio election is to restoring balance in the U.S. Senate. A press conference will take place today at 2:00 p.m. announcing the endorsement at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, 230 East Town St., in Columbus.

“I am proud to have earned support from the world’s largest business organization. As a strong advocate for the free-enterprise system, my number one priority in the U.S. Senate will be to help create an environment that allows the private sector to grow and create jobs,” said Treasurer Josh Mandel. “We need to replace Washington failures with common sense solutions like reducing regulatory burdens and fixing our tax code to make America more competitive in the globalized marketplace.”

Rob Engstrom, the Chamber’s National Political Director, told The Columbus Dispatch yesterday, "[Sherrod Brown] has one of the worst records in the U.S. Senate on business issues … We're really excited to support Josh Mandel and we desperately need his help in Washington to restore a free enterprise approach to the economic challenges we're facing.”

The endorsement comes in the middle of a statewide tour Treasurer Mandel is conducting to discuss his pro-growth agenda with job creators and blue-collar workers in several different industries across 22 of Ohio’s 88 counties.