(Cleveland businessman and political novice Bernie Moreno on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for an Ohio U.S. Senate, boosted by a Saturday appearance from former President Donald Trump that gained national media attention for Trump’s use of the term “bloodbath” to refer to Chinese automobile imports.
Echoing similar upsets during the 2022 primary season, it marked a major blow to the GOP establishment, but also came with a note of caution as Democrats—seeing in Moreno the more vulnerable option for a general election matchup against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown in the battleground state—reportedly ran ads designed to gin up MAGA support.
Moreno’s win over state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose was called about 8:45 p.m., setting up the November showdown with Brown in one of the country’s critical races for control of the Senate.
Brown, first elected to the Senate in 2006, did not have a primary challenger.
With 26% of the vote reporting, Moreno picked up 41.5% to Dolan’s 36.5% and LaRose’s 22%.
The loss was the second straight for Dolan, who also ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2022 when the Trump-backed J.D. Vance won the nomination and eventually the seat.
The question of Trump’s support figured prominiently into one of the candidate debates, in which Moreno and LaRose engaged in a discussion over who was “Trumpier.”
“Frank does know President Trump and President Trump knows Frank. And he endorsed me,” said Moreno.
Dolan never explicitly disavowed himself from Trump’s policies, although he did appear to convey some discomfort with the topic, attempting to shift the focus back to Ohio.
“Once again, the irony here is I’m the only one that’s enacted Trump policies,” he demurred.
Moreno, who once spoke unequivocally in opposition to Trump but has since become a staunch supporter.
Democrats already were using his notable pivot on that and other issues—including his past advocacy for the LGBT movement (his eldest son is gay) to launch a barrage of character attacks against him.
Several outlets accused him of authoring a years-old post on the Adult Friend Finder site, using an account linked to his email, that said the user was seeking “young guys to have fun with” and “men for 1-on-1 sex.”
A former intern of Moreno’s came forward saying he had posted the message as a prank.
“I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,” Dan Ricci, said in a statement provided to the Associated Press by Moreno’s lawyer.
Trump made a campaign stop near Dayton on Saturday. Heading into that rally, Moreno trailed Dolan in an Emerson College poll conducted the first week in March.
In the latest Emerson poll, which sampled 450 likely Republican voters Sunday and Monday, Moreno’s support jumped 15 points to 38%, followed by Dolan at 29% and LaRose at 12%. Undecided voters were at 21%.
It was only a three-point jump for Dolan, while LaRose lost four points in the final poll. The margin for error was +/-4.6%
The same poll showed the top issue for Republican voters is the economy at 37%, followed by immigration at 29% and threats to democracy at 14%.
Headline USA’s Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
