- Former car dealership owner Bernie Moreno, who was endorsed by President Trump, has won Ohio’s Republican Senate primary.
- The announcement came after a tighter-than-expected race with state senators who were skeptical of Trump.
- Democrats also believed that Moreno was the easiest Republican to beat and tried to help him win the primary.
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Former car dealership owner Bernie Moreno has won the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. Decision-making desk headquarters.
Moreno has the backing of former President Donald Trump and is scheduled to face Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November. This race will likely determine which party controls the Senate next year.
It’s a victory not only for Mr. Trump, but also for Democrats, who spent $3.1 million on TV and digital ads in the final stages of the campaign to raise Mr. Moreno’s profile among Republican primary voters.
It was the latest example of a tried-and-true tactic Democrats have employed in recent years: intervening in Republican primaries to promote the candidate they think is most likely to win.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who supported Mr. Dolan, called Mr. Moreno “the weakest candidate” in the race after the Democratic spending was made public.
Mr. Moreno won Mr. Trump’s endorsement several months ago, but faced tougher-than-expected competition from state Sen. Matt Dolan, a candidate more skeptical of Mr. Trump. Current Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose came in third place.
This was enough to convince President Trump to travel to Dayton for a rally where he made his now infamous “bloody” remarks.
In the final stages of the campaign, Mr. Moreno and Mr. Trump’s allies relied primarily on the former president’s support in making their case to Republican primary voters.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told rallygoers on Saturday that “President Trump wants Bernie” and said the endorsement “should be reason enough” to support Moreno. “You want President Trump to come to Ohio. If you make Bernie the winner on Tuesday, he’ll be here a lot.”
But Moreno is emerging from a contentious primary with potential vulnerabilities.
On the last day of the race, Associated Press Moreno’s work email was linked to a short-term profile on an adult dating site in 2008 seeking “men seeking one-on-one sex,” the report said.
Moreno’s campaign claims the incident was a prank carried out by an intern, but his prominent supporters have largely dismissed the story as defamatory.
A former car dealership owner, he has also faced several lawsuits stemming from his time in the auto industry, including the release of documents that may be related to the wage theft lawsuit he was facing. This includes being sanctioned by a Massachusetts judge for shredding.