Jeremy Diamond and Sara Murray, CNN
Updated 4:40 PM ET, Sat October 15, 2016
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/15/politics/donald-trump-ohio-gop-chairman/(CNN)Donald Trump's campaign announced Saturday that it is cutting ties with the Republican Party chairman in the critical battleground state of Ohio less than a month before the election.
The campaign's Ohio state director, Bob Paduchik, slammed Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges in a letter Saturday to the state party's central committee for wavering in his support for Trump in a series of recent interviews and announced that Borges "no longer has any affiliation with the Trump-Pence campaign."
Paduchik said Trump is "very disappointed in Matt's duplicity."
"Mr. Trump told me, 'This is why people have lost faith in the establishment and party leaders.' I have to agree with him. Too often some leaders of our party have been quick to bail on candidates and principles; it's why our nation is on the wrong track," Paduchik said.
Borges told CNN on Saturday that he "won't let a staffer's ego get in the way of us doing all we can to win elections up and down the ballot this year."
The rift could be dangerously damaging to Trump's chances of winning the presidency, as Ohio is the battleground state where the Republican nominee remains best positioned for victory, even as his poll numbers have dipped in a slew of other swing states.
(more at link)
