Republican primary challenger Eric Watson seized on Vivek Ramaswamy’s removal of state Rep. Gary Click from his endorsements page, calling the three-term incumbent “a liability” and saying Ramaswamy “made the right decision to step away.”

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t believe it at first,” Watson wrote in a Facebook post on April 13. “But I checked Vivek’s campaign website myself… and sure enough, Gary Click’s name and endorsement have disappeared. Almost like it was never there.”

Click has since been re-added to Ramaswamy’s endorsements page — restored within approximately two hours of TiffinOhio.net documenting the removal. But at the time Watson posted, Click’s name was verifiably absent from the site, and Watson said he confirmed it himself.

Watson shared TiffinOhio.net’s report documenting that both Click and state Rep. Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) had been removed from vivekforohio.com/endorsements/ within two days of TiffinOhio.net reporting on Creech’s BCI investigation and resurfaced video of Click describing conversations with “young girls” about their sexual experiences during Ohio House testimony.

“That tells you everything you need to know,” Watson wrote. “Gary Click has become a liability, and Vivek Ramaswamy made the right decision to step away.”

The Moreno comparison

Watson drew a direct line between the Ramaswamy removal and another high-profile distancing from Click earlier this year.

“Just like when Senator Moreno made the right decision to stay away from Gary’s kickoff event,” Watson wrote.

The reference is to U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH). In February, Click announced on Facebook that he was “looking forward to having Senator Bernie Moreno join me for my official campaign kick off on March 14,” calling Moreno “an amazing senator.” The event was rescheduled to March 28 — and when the updated flyer went out, Moreno was gone. In his place: Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, State Treasurer Robert Sprague, and Majority Whip Nick Santucci.

Neither Click nor Moreno publicly addressed the change. TiffinOhio.net reported on the swap at the time.

The timeline

Watson’s post went up at 1:05 p.m. on April 13 — roughly 90 minutes before Click’s name was restored to Ramaswamy’s endorsements page.

At the time Watson posted, Click’s name was verifiably absent from the page. A Web Archive snapshot from April 11 confirms Click had been removed. Watson said he checked the live site himself and confirmed it.

By approximately 2:30 p.m. — roughly two hours after TiffinOhio.net published its report and about 90 minutes after Watson’s post — Click’s name reappeared on the page. Click then posted to Facebook that “rumors that I have been removed from a list of endorsements Vivek Ramaswamy are greatly exaggerated,” with a grinning emoji and a screenshot of himself back on the page.

Click did not address the Web Archive evidence, who removed him, or who restored him.

A pattern of distancing

Watson’s “liability” framing comes as multiple Republican campaigns have moved to create distance from Click and Creech in recent weeks.

Ramaswamy’s campaign removed both lawmakers from its endorsements page after TiffinOhio.net reporting. OH-9 congressional candidate Josh Williams also removed Creech from his endorsements page, though Click remains listed on Williams’ site. Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign has promoted endorsements from both lawmakers but has not publicly addressed the scrutiny.

Watson closed his Facebook post with a direct appeal to primary voters.

“This race is about trust and real leadership,” Watson wrote. “We’re out here earning support every day, and the momentum is growing! May 5th, we take our district back!”

The Republican primary for Ohio House District 88, which covers Seneca and Sandusky counties, is May 5. Early in-person voting is underway. Democrat Aaron Jones, a U.S. Army veteran, production supervisor, and Tiffin City Councilman, will face the Republican nominee in the November general election.