YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – Monday night’s debate for a Senate seat in Ohio demonstrated what everyone watching local television has known for weeks: Congressman Tim Ryan and author J.D. Vance really, really do not like each other. While neither candidate emerged as the clear victor, the race’s devolution into starkly personal terms may prove an obstacle for Ryan, who is trying to re-create Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown’s successful formula by emphasizing his populist, protectionist approach to economics over cultural warfare.

But cultural issues and personality conflicts dominated Monday night’s debate. Ryan repeatedly engaged in tense, personal clashes with Vance that trended on social media but seem unlikely to move the needle in his uphill battle to flip retiring Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s seat.

That tension left the moderators struggling to reel in the candidates during the brief 56-minute debate. Five minutes after questions began, moderator Lindsay McCoy had to cut short an exchange over the Inflation Reduction Act that had spiraled into bickering after Vance answered Ryan’s populist defense of the IRA’s federal investments with accusations that Ryan’s actions were controlled by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Gentleman, let’s focus," she chided them. The two did not return to their differences on manufacturing or labor policy for the remainder of the debate.