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Tuesday’s Republican Senate primary in Ohio will be the first test of the year to test Donald Trump’s influence in a contentious Senate race, but it will also focus on a key issue this fall: Sherrod Brown. It will help determine what the fate of the Senate and the Democratic majority will be.
“Are we ready to get Sherrod Brown and retire him from Ohio politics?” State Sen. Matt Dolan, one of three Republican rivals competing in a tight primary. Lawmakers questioned supporters in Columbus Monday night.
But even though Republicans were focused on defeating Brown in November, there was far more talk about Trump and the weekend rally near Dayton that resonated on the eve of the election. The former president’s warnings about a “disaster” in the auto industry largely overshadowed the reason for the rally in the Buckeye State, which was meant to drag his favorite candidate, businessman Bernie Moreno, across the finish line.
Trump’s involvement in this election campaign is noteworthy. Because national Republicans who decided to participate in primaries this year are not participating in this election, in part to avoid candidates who have emerged as flawed general election candidates in 2022. Trump has a lot at stake in Ohio on Tuesday, even though he already clinched the Republican presidential nomination last week.
Ads aired by Moreno’s campaign ahead of Election Day emphasized how omnipresent the former president is in his message. “MAGA Warning: President Trump Asks You to Vote for Outsider Businessman Bernie Moreno,” the ad reads. “Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno for Senate.”
But Democrats are also trying to use the former president’s popularity in the red state to their advantage. An outside group affiliated with a top Senate Democratic super PAC invaded an already expensive primary last week, seeking support from President Trump in favor of Moreno over Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. We launched an advertisement to emphasize this. “Donald Trump needs Bernie Moreno. Ohio doesn’t,” the ad says.
To win reelection, Brown will need to win over a large portion of Trump’s voters in a state where the former president twice led by 8 points. The three-term incumbent is one of two Democrats running for re-election this year in states that Trump supported, the other being Sen. Jon Tester of Montana. Republicans would only need to flip one or two seats to take control of the Senate, depending on who wins the White House, but West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election. , Republicans have already effectively gained one seat. For this reason, there is a growing possibility that brown states will hold out in states that have been trending red in recent years.
On the eve of the Republican primary, the senator tried to unite his Republican opponents, saying he didn’t have a particular idea in mind who he wanted to run against.
“I’m going to let the rich people fight,” he told reporters in Dayton on Monday. “They’re spending a legacy on this race. He has one thing we know: They’re all about the same.”
Mr. Moreno and Mr. Dolan’s willingness to pour their own money into their campaigns has already helped make this race one of the most expensive races of the 2024 cycle. Total ad spending for the Ohio Senate race, more than $40 million as of Monday, is so far second only to the U.S. presidential election, the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial race and the 2024 California Senate race.
A high-stakes, heated race that divides the Ohio Republican Party.
Gov. Mike DeWine and former Sen. Rob Portman’s recent endorsements of Mr. Dolan, the only one of the three candidates not explicitly supporting Mr. It highlighted the division between Trump supporters and establishment supporters, as well as the differences in their styles. Bring it to the race.
At a crowded sports bar in the Columbus suburb of German Village on Monday night, Mr. Dolan tried to link Mr. Brown to President Joe Biden, saying his claims for the fall would challenge the administration’s record on inflation and immigration. suggested that it would be built on that basis. Mr. Dolan happened to mention Mr. Trump, telling his supporters that he could outperform Mr. Trump in the suburbs.
“We have to realize that civility in politics is not a weakness,” Dolan said, openly criticizing the former president’s actions. “We must measure our strength not by how loud we shout, but by how much we accomplish for the American people.”
Mr. DeWine urged Republicans to carefully consider their choices in the hotly contested race. He said foreign policy should be a key issue in the fall campaign, a sharp distinction from his softer stance toward President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have to win in November,” DeWine said. “Matt Dolan obviously has the best chance to win in the fall. I think our common sense tells us that.”
But Republican strategists in Ohio told CNN that the governor’s support could clear both paths for Dolan. This could boost turnout among older, better-educated Republicans who could do well with Dolan, but it could also alienate some voters like Eric Lang. .
“I’m not a big fan of DeWine, so when I heard he was supporting (Dolan), I didn’t want to support him any more,” said a 40-year-old Piqua factory worker who attended President Trump’s rally on Saturday. He spoke outside.
President Trump attacked Dolan during his remarks, exaggerating the party’s divisions by trying to link him to 2012 Republican presidential candidate Sen. Mitt Romney, a family-turned-RINO (“Republican in name only”). He accused him of doing so. The name of the Cleveland Indians was changed to the Cleveland Guardians.
Despite Moreno’s own history of criticizing Trump (as CNN’s K-Files previously reported), Moreno once called Trump a “fake Republican” (as CNN’s K-Files previously reported). Despite this, several Trump supporters told CNN ahead of the rally that they planned to support Moreno primarily because of the former president’s support.
“If (President Trump) points the finger at that guy, that’s the guy for me,” said Anna Saylor, 64, of Hamilton.
Although Mr. LaRose does not have as much personal wealth as his opponent, he argues that his experience as the only statewide elected official in the race puts him in the best position to defeat Mr. Brown, and Mr. Trump and DeWine. denied the influence of
“Most people don’t make decisions based on support,” he told reporters after a weekend campaign stop in Sandusky. “I feel like one of my opponents in particular is trying to hide behind support because he has a pretty liberal background that he doesn’t really want to explain. That’s Moreno.”
Lange, a Piqua factory worker, acknowledged he has concerns about Moreno’s chances of being selected to face Brown. The success of Democrats last year in passing the first bill enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution was also a contributing factor.
Mr. Brown declined Monday to say whether he believes Mr. Moreno is the easiest opponent to face in the fall, as several Democratic strategists in Ohio have argued. He acknowledged that his campaign for a fourth term was the toughest battle of his nearly half-century career in elected office.
“Certainly, this might be my toughest race,” Brown said.
Ohio voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and backed Trump by 8 points in 2016 and 2020. Known as a progressive populist, Brown is the last Democrat to hold non-judicial, statewide office in the Buckeye State. He won his last race by seven points in 2018 against a weak challenger without the backing of a national party.
Brown on Monday signaled the issues he plans to attack aggressively as a Democratic candidate seeking re-election in the increasingly Republican-leaning state.
“They all call for a national abortion ban. They’ve never supported organized labor. They’re all opposed to the minimum wage,” Brown said of his Republican opponents. “No matter who we’re playing against, we’re ready.”
CNN’s David Wright contributed to this report.
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