Former Ohio U.S. senate candidate Mike Gibbons dies at 73, per lawmakers

CLEVELAND (WCMH) — Mike Gibbons, a successful Cleveland businessman who ran for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat in 2018 and 2022, has died at the age of 73, according to multiple Ohio lawmakers.

Former Ohio state representative Jim Trakas announced on social media Sunday night that Gibbons died of a heart attack while visiting his sons overseas. “Mike was a tremendous guy, honest as they come, an accomplished investor, builder of wealth for clients and jobs for workers,” wrote Trakas.

Born in 1952 in Cleveland, Gibbons attended Kenyon College before becoming a successful businessman in northeast Ohio. While serving as chairman of financial services company Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, Gibbons launched his first campaign for U.S. Senate in the 2018 election.

He finished second in the 2018 Republican primary to Jim Renacci and then ran again in 2022, where he ended up in fourth in the primary that current Vice President J.D. Vance won.

Tributes for Gibbons poured over on social media Monday from multiple Ohio politicians, including secretary of state Frank LaRose and 2026 gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

“He was a good-hearted man. Rest in peace,” wrote Ramaswamy.

“We’ve lost a good man in Mike Gibbons,” said LaRose. “He was a genuine person who cared deeply for Ohio.”