Ohio voters are at the polls Tuesday to choose a Republican challenger to incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. The contested Senate seat in a red state is considered a must-win for Republicans hoping to regain control of the chamber in November.
The race will also serve as the first measure of how much Donald Trump’s MAGA cachet is worth in a year when Trump once again has the edge among Republicans.
It was once a three-man race, but on Tuesday there were two leading candidates in the race: State Sen. Matt Dolan, who was endorsed by popular Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. Businessman Bernie Moreno is a strong candidate, bolstered by the support of Donald Trump.
Ohio, a predominantly white working-class state that has historically held purple state status, has turned red in recent years. In 2020, President Joe Biden became the first president since 1960 to win the presidential election without winning Ohio.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also in the race, but LaRose has fallen behind in recent weeks and given up an early lead. Despite his notoriety, LaRose lost momentum in part because Dolan and Moreno were able to self-finance their campaigns.
Dolan’s family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. Moreno made a multimillion-dollar living as a car dealer and investor in blockchain technology.
The Trump test
Across the country, Republicans are closely watching the Buckeye State primary for signs that Trump has a hold on Republican voters.
How Moreno performs on Tuesday will be an early test of whether Trump’s support has increased since 2020 and 2022, when his hand-picked candidates underperformed in key races.
In 2020, Trump lost re-election and Republicans lost both chambers of Congress. In 2022, Republicans won a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and lost Senate seats in red states with weak candidates.
Trump’s patchy track record provided a solid line of attack for his Republican primary opponents before he secured the nomination earlier this month.
“Republicans keep losing under Trump,” former presidential candidate Nikki Haley posted on X before dropping out of the race. “Let’s stop losing with Trump. Let’s make the GOP a winning party again.”
On Sunday, DeWine dodged the question of whether Trump’s support for Moreno would be enough to tip Tuesday’s primary in Moreno’s favor.
Spokespeople for the Moreno and Dolan campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Concern about Moreno
Before Tuesday’s election, a majority of Ohio voters remained undecided.
On Saturday, Trump held a rally near Dayton, Ohio, to boost Moreno ahead of the primary.
“Bernie is a fantastic guy. He is being treated very harshly by the Democrats right now,” Trump said. “Don’t leave me alone, Bernie…Ohio needs [you] Defeating your horrible left-wing Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown who pretends he’s my best friend.
Moreno’s campaign suffered a blow last week after the Associated Press reported that a 2008 account on the casual sex website Adult Friend Finder was linked to Moreno’s email account.
According to the AP, the profile linked to Moreno was allegedly looking for “men for 1-on-1 sex.” Moreno has spoken out against LGBTQ+ rights [when and how]His attorney said a former intern of Moreno’s created the dating account as a “prank.”
Still, the burgeoning scandal is raising new questions about whether Moreno — who has never held public office — will be able to unseat Brown in November.
Democrats have taken advantage of the headwinds Moreno is facing. In the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary, Democratic factions poured millions of dollars into ads aimed at boosting Moreno over Dolan.
Democrats “obviously think that Dolan is the strongest candidate, so I’m supporting Matt Dolan,” DeWine said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“Ohio may be one of the states that decides who controls the United States Senate. “So there’s a lot at stake in this election,” DeWine said.
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2024-03-19 18:09:25
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