Bernie Moreno, a wealthy former car dealer and political newcomer, won Tuesday with the backing of former President Donald J. Trump in a closely contested primary to determine which Ohio Republican would take on incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown last Democrat to hold elected statewide office in the increasingly Republican state.
Mr. Moreno beat state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family is majority owner of the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, and Frank LaRose, the Ohio secretary of state, once again demonstrating Mr. Trump’s strong support among Republican primary voters. Rarely has a contest so clearly separated the old Republican establishment from the new Trump wing of the party, and once again the former president’s movement prevailed.
It was Dolan’s second loss to a Trump-backed political newcomer. In 2022, author and investor JD Vance beat him in the primary for retiring Senator Rob Portman’s seat and then won the fall general election.
Mike DeWine, the Republican governor of Ohio, campaigned for Mr. Dolan in his candidacy, trying to make the case that Mr. Dolan was the best candidate to take on Mr. Brown, whose blue-collar appeal and established political personality were hard to beat, himself in a state where Mr. Trump won the last two presidential elections by more than eight percentage points each.
But in the Trump era, electability has rarely been more important than loyalty when the former president gets involved. Mr. Moreno flooded the Ohio airwaves with ads attacking Mr. Dolan for what he said was insufficient support for Mr. Trump’s border policies. Mr. Trump rallied voters for Mr. Moreno outside Dayton over the weekend, made headlines for saying some migrants are “not people,” and amid a discussion about the auto industry, he predicted “a bloodbath” if he loses in November.
Mr. Moreno will enter the general election cash-depleted and battered by a deeply negative primary campaign that ended when a super PAC that backed Mr. Dolan aired allegations in an Associated Press report that he had once been on an adult website advertised for dates with men. Mr. Moreno’s campaign said the profile on the adult website was created as a prank by an intern in 2008.
Of the $9.7 million Mr. Moreno raised for his campaign, less than $2.4 million remained at the end of February, according to campaign finance reports.
A Democratic super PAC aired ads promoting Mr. Moreno in the final days of the primary, making clear he was the candidate the party wanted to embrace in November.
Mr Brown goes into the general election well prepared, rested and ready. He has raised money not only from unions loyal to him but also from companies that have business before the Senate Banking Committee, of which he is chairman. His campaign has raised at least $26.7 million this election cycle and has more than $13.5 million in cash.
But Mr. Moreno will run in a state that has become increasingly hostile to Democrats — and President Biden is unlikely to seriously challenge him as he fights for another term.
Mr. Brown, who was first elected to the Senate in 2006, expressed little concern about his third re-election. The Democrat has earned a reputation as a pro-worker politician who has opposed free trade deals and pro-unions in a state where the working class has leaned toward the Republican Party since Barack Obama won twice.
“We’re going to spend this campaign contrasting my position on Wall Street, my position on the drug companies and my position on trading with them,” he told reporters in Dayton, Ohio, on Monday.
Ohioans voted last November to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and legalize marijuana. Brown says the votes reveal a political complexity that defies clear partisan divisions.
With control of the Senate within Republican reach, Ohio and Montana – the only states where Mr Trump won in 2020 and a Democrat is running for re-election – promise to attract major national attention. Democrats hold 51 Senate seats, but one of them in deep-red West Virginia has all but disappeared with the resignation of conservative Democrat Joe Manchin III.
The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC allied with the Senate Republican leadership, and an allied group, American Crossroads, have already reserved nearly $83 million in advertising time in Ohio this fall.
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2024-03-20 00:36:32
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