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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ohio’s Republican Treasurer Josh Mandel has ended his bid to unseat the state’s Democratic U.S. senator, Sherrod Brown, citing his wife’s health, Mandel said in a news release posted on the Cincinnati Enquirer website.

“We recently learned that my wife has a health issue that will require my time, attention and presence. In other words, I need to be there,” he said in the release.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the report and a spokeswoman for the Mandel campaign was not immediately available for comment.

Brown, the most senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, was facing a tough challenge from Mandel after the traditional swing state went to Republican President Donald Trump in the 2016 national election.

Mandel unsuccessfully challenged Brown in 2012.