COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A group with ties to Democrats has stepped into Ohio’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate days before the election.
On Tuesday, voters will choose state Sen. Matt Dolan, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose or businessman Bernie Moreno to go up against incumbent Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown in the general election. The race could decide which party controls the chamber starting next year.
Here are developments from the past week.
DeWine endorses Dolan
Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine endorsed Dolan. Previously, the governor had said he would not make an endorsement in the race.
“We believe this proven conservative is the strongest candidate to beat Sherrod Brown in the fall,” the DeWines said in a letter.
Democrat group supports Moreno
Days before the primary, a group of Democrats dumped millions into a pro-Moreno ad campaign. Duty and Country PAC — linked to a Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer-affiliated PAC — purchased $2.7 million in ad buys.
“[Schumer] knows Bernie’s background makes him the weakest candidate to face Sherrod Brown,” LaRose said in a tweet calling on Moreno to reject the handout. “The more Ohioans learn about Moreno, the less they trust him.”
“Schumer just got CAUGHT meddling in our primary because he wants the weakest opponent for Sherrod Brown,” Dolan said in a tweet.
Moreno campaign spokesperson Reagan McCarthy likened the situation to 2016.
“[Democrats] thought President Trump would be easy to beat in 2016, and then they got their clocks cleaned when he demolished Hillary Clinton,” McCarthy said.
Dolan has slight leads in new polls
Two polls this week had Dolan listed first but within the margins of error.
On Wednesday, an Emerson College poll — sponsored by Nexstar, parent company of NBC4 — with a 2.6% confidence interval showed Dolan with 26% of the vote, Moreno at 23% and LaRose at 16%. A third of the voter pool was undecided. In a general election faceoff, the poll showed all three Republicans narrowly trailing Brown, with Dolan coming closest.
On Friday, a poll from East Carolina University’s Center for Survey Research showed Dolan not only leading in the primary but also in a hypothetical matchup with Brown. The primary poll (4.6% credibility interval) showed Dolan at 33%, Moreno at 31% and LaRose at 23%, with just 14% of respondents undecided. Against Brown, the general election poll (3.2% credibility interval) found the following results:
- Dolan 43%, Brown 41%
- Brown 45%, Moreno 41%
- Brown 45%, LaRose 40%
Moreno linked to profile seeking men
The Associated Press reported on mounting anxieties inside the Republican Party about Moreno taking the nomination in light of how he’d matched up against Brown. Also according to the report, Moreno’s email was connected to the website “Adult Friend Finder” in 2008, and the account was for seeking sexual relations with other men.
The AP said it could not confirm whether Moreno set up the account himself, and an attorney for Moreno said it was created by a former intern as a prank. In a post on X, Moreno said the attack was “vile” and had been “debunked,” and he included a statement from his wife, Bridget, that went after a Dolan-affiliated group for making an ad that mentioned the article.
Trump campaigns for Moreno
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump appeared at a rally near Dayton in support of Moreno’s campaign. As the primary heated up in its final days, this was seen as a final push to coalesce support around the former president’s pick.
In December, Trump announced his endorsement of Moreno.
