Bernie Moreno, Republican candidate for US Senate, has been crisscrossing the state picking up endorsements from high profile leaders and more than 100 grassroots leaders in Ohio. He recently gained the support of newly elected U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH), Charlie Kirk, Founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, and former NY Republican candidate for governor Lee Zeldin. This strategy to consolidate his support and unite the Republican Party behind his campaign appears to be working.
Clearing the primary field
After Vance’s early endorsement of Moreno, possible contender U.S. Representative Warren Davidson (R-OH-08) informed his supporters that instead of pursuing the U.S. Senate seat he will run for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. According to Davidson, he believes his time is better spent in the House fighting for important issues rather than spending his time fundraising for a Senate campaign.
Another possible contender, Mark Kvamme, a Columbus venture capitalist, and former JobsOhio CEO with close ties to former Gov. John Kasich, declined to run in April and said he would be backing Moreno to be the GOP nominee challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose has said he is hoping to announce his candidacy soon. In a letter to the editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, one grassroots leader summed up what many conservatives are thinking about a possible LaRose run: “…despite running for reelection less than a year ago, our secretary of state, charged with running our elections, Frank LaRose, is openly talking about putting politics in front of his sworn duty to Ohio voters and running for U.S. Senate. Frank shouldn’t have run for reelection if he didn’t plan on serving a full term or giving the position his all.”
Should LaRose decide against running and no other candidates enter the race that would leave a head-to-head primary contest between Moreno and State Senator Matt Dolan who declared his candidacy in January of 2023.
More than 100 Ohio leaders endorse Moreno
Moreno listed endorsements from over 100 Ohio leaders and officials on his website and thanked them for their support in a tweet:
“Honored to be endorsed by all of these incredible grassroots leaders throughout Ohio! Together, as a united party, we will retire lifelong career politician Sherrod Brown.”
High-profile conservative leaders voice support
Charlie Kirk, founder and CEO of Turning Point USA, tweeted his endorsement saying:
“My friend @berniemoreno is the example of a “Return to Patriotism” we need. He built his business from the ground up, and I know he’ll help rebuild America when he joins @JDVance in the US Senate from the great state of Ohio. I’m proud to support Bernie. He has @TPAction’s full endorsement!”
JD Vance tweeted his early endorsement of Moreno by saying:
“Thrilled to endorse Bernie Moreno for senate. He’s a good friend, a job creator, and will be a fantastic senator. We’d make a hell of a team!”
Vance elaborated in a statement:
“I’m happy to endorse my friend Bernie Moreno for the United States Senate. Bernie is a lifelong businessman, who has created thousands of good-paying middle-class jobs and is a strong America First conservative, who will never stop fighting to protect Ohio workers and families. Bernie is committed to securing our southern border, getting tough on China, and taking the fight to the woke corporations waging war against our conservative values. It’s time to turn the tides on the establishment insiders who sell out our country to special interests and elect more political outsiders like Bernie, who will always put America First in Washington, DC. I’m looking forward to having Bernie as a colleague in the U.S. Senate.”
A source close to Vance told Brietbart: “Beyond being personally close to Bernie and viewing him as an ideological ally, JD is endorsing Bernie so early because he feels strongly about ensuring that we don’t see a replay of the type of bloody primary fight that he [Vance] had to deal with last cycle, which left him with depleted resources going into the general election. He believes that Bernie is the candidate best positioned to quickly unify both the conservative grassroots and the Ohio donor class around his campaign to give Republicans the strongest shot at defeating Sherrod Brown next year.”
Moreno takes it to Sherrod Brown
In what is expected to be a tough reelection for Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Moreno is aiming to make it even tougher for him. Brown is the only democrat to win a statewide race in Ohio in the last decade and no democrat was elected statewide in the 2022 midterms. Moreno doesn’t mince words when it comes to criticizing Brown for receiving an extra property tax credit and for recent votes that he claims harmed American workers.
Responding to a report by NBC News that Brown received an extra property tax credit and racked up penalties for late payments, Moreno said,
“Well, it’s the typical corruption you see for career politicians,” adding “He’s the chair of the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, and … he can’t even be trusted to pay his own taxes.
He’s got two homes, one in Columbus, one in Cleveland – claimed an owner occupancy credit for both of them,” Moreno added. “He claims it’s a paperwork error. Well, the bill’s not complicated. You look at it; you can see exactly what credit you’re getting. The bill comes at exactly the same time every year. This lack of payment of property taxes goes back to his D.C. condo ten years ago. He was late; paid late fees over and over and over again.”
Moreno also slammed Brown for voting against two critical amendments to the debt ceiling deal that would have protected tariffs against China and helped secure the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Sherrod Brown is a career politician who has managed to live off of the taxpayers his entire life by defrauding voters into believing that he’s ‘pro-worker.’ The reality is, when Sherrod goes to Washington DC, he regularly votes against the interests of Ohio workers and families. Just last week he voted against amendments to raise tariffs on China and secure our southern border. Raising tariffs on Communist China and securing the border to stop the flow of illegal labor are two policies that would directly benefit working people and help us rebuild our manufacturing sector here at home, but because Sherrod’s Democrat party bosses opposed them, he voted no on both amendments.”
