(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden will tout expanded U.S. manufacturing in Ohio on Friday, but the Democratic candidate for the state’s pivotal Senate seat won’t be joining him.

Biden will speak in Cincinnati three days after a primary election that saw Republicans nominate author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance for the Senate seat while Democrats selected Representative Tim Ryan. Vance calls Cincinnati his hometown.

Ryan won’t be at the speech, according to two officials familiar with his plans. His absence suggests Democrats running in the most competitive congressional races regard Biden and his low public approval ratings as a drag on their chances.

Just 42% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance as president, according to an analysis of polls by FiveThirtyEight.

Ryan dodged questions about whether he wanted Biden campaigning for him in TV interviews this week. “We welcome everybody’s support, but I will be the face of this campaign,” he told CNN.

White House spokespeople declined to comment on Ryan’s absence.

Read more: JD Vance Shows Trump’s Enduring GOP Grip With Ohio Primary Win

Ohio’s two current senators, Republican Rob Portman and Democrat Sherrod Brown, will join Biden on Friday, as will Greg Landsman, a Democratic city councilman in Cincinnati who is challenging Representative Steve Chabot’s re-election, an official familiar with the event said.

Biden is traveling to Cincinnati to celebrate U.S. job gains in manufacturing. The Labor Department reported Friday that the country gained 428,000 jobs in April, despite high inflation and an anticipated interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

He’ll hail an agreement between large companies and smaller suppliers to boost so-called additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing. 

The initiative includes GE Aviation Systems, Honeywell International Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., Raytheon Technologies Corp., and Siemens Energy AG. The companies will pledge to buy a minimum amount of 3-D printed material from U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses. The agreement is aimed at solving a chicken-and-egg problem: Small firms can’t grow without orders, and large companies lack the scale they need from domestic suppliers, an administration official said.

Biden also will call on Congress to finally pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, a China competition bill aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing.

But the political backdrop of the trip overshadows the policy aspects, as the Senate race kicks into full gear and Washington lawmakers begin to turn more of their attention to November’s midterm elections.

Ohio was once a Democratic stronghold, but it has grown steadily more conservative. Donald Trump won the state by 8 percentage points in 2020 and endorsed Vance in his primary election. Portman’s retirement means a Senate race without an incumbent, making it more competitive, though Ryan likely enters the contest as an underdog due to Ohio’s political shift.

Biden has said he thinks Democrats have a shot at gaining two Senate seats in November, though he hasn’t said where.

The president this week sharpened his criticism of Republicans, seeking to draw clear contrasts between their proposals and his, particular on taxes and the economy. He’s said they’re pursuing a “MAGA agenda” he’s called “radical” and “extreme,” referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. 

Ryan has sought to appeal to disaffected Republicans in his campaign. 

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