In Ohio’s U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday, the extent of Donald Trump’s influence on the state’s Republicans will face scrutiny as voters choose between a political newcomer endorsed by the former president and a candidate representing more conventional Republican values. The victor in the GOP race will vie against Democratic incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown in November. Both contenders are aiming to demonstrate that their alignment with Trump will bolster their chances in a state often viewed as indicative of broader national shifts.
The race is being fought by three Republicans vying to take on Brown: Westlake businessman Bernie Moreno, who boasts the support of the Trump-aligned Buckeye Leadership Fund, has a commanding lead in the polls. But he is also the focus of millions in ad spending from his rivals, aligned super PACs, and the Brown campaign itself.
At a GOP pancake breakfast last Saturday, where all the candidates were on hand to speak, most voters at an event in Cincinnati told NBC News that they had not yet decided. But the cheers that broke out when The Associated Press called the race shortly afterward were primarily directed at state Sen. Matt Dolan, a former top county prosecutor and assistant attorney general considered part of the Ohio Republican old guard or establishment. Dolan’s late rise in the polls reflects long-term divisions in the party, with traditionalists versus the more conservative, pro-Trump “Make America Great Again” movement.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s vote, Dolan and Moreno have stoked battle lines over their loyalty to Trump. Moreno, an immigrant who made his fortune as the founder of a luxury car dealership chain and an owner of Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, has portrayed his rivals as “Trump loyalists” while drawing a parallel between himself and Mitt Romney, the establishment Republican senator from Utah reviled by Trump and the MAGA movement.
However, some Ohio Republicans have questioned whether Trump’s overt embrace will scare off moderate and independent voters. They worry that if Moreno’s overt support of Trump turns off independents, he will be hard-pressed to win a general election in a state where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate and face a geographical advantage as they seek to defend a half-dozen seats in competitive states, including Ohio.
Moreno’s campaign has argued that his rivals have “skeletons in their closets.” Moreno’s allies have accused Dolan and the other candidates of lying about their record in office and hammered Dolan for his past votes against abortion rights. The Dolan campaign denies any wrongdoing.
