Republican Bernie Moreno is projected to beat three-term Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown in what has been one of the most closely watched elections in the country.
The race, one of a handful of battleground Senate races, is a significant blow to Democrats, both in their campaign to maintain Senate control and in their efforts to remain politically competitive in Ohio. The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday.
Republicans have consistently swept statewide elections in recent years. JD Vance won the Senate race in 2022, and former President Donald Trump took Ohio in 2016 and 2020. Republican voters in rural areas have played a significant role in these victories. The state has also shifted demographically to favor Republicans: Ohio is whiter and has more voters without college degrees than the United States as a whole. The population has also grown older.
Moreno was backed early in the race by Trump. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, he has never held public office. This is only his second bid for public office, after exiting a Senate race early in 2021.
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He campaigned aggressively, attempting to paint Brown as a career politician and an extension of the Biden-Harris administration.
“Sherrod Brown votes with [President Joe] Biden virtually 100% of the time,” Moreno said in a July speech at the Republican National Convention. “I don’t know if I agree with my wife 100% of the time. But Sherrod and Joe seem to have a very close relationship.”
Moreno hammered Brown aggressively on all fronts. He campaigned on hot-button political issues like immigration, and Republicans prioritized anti-trans attacks in the race. Moreno faced scrutiny for calling women “single-issue voters” on abortion. He has vowed to “protect life.”
The race was one of Republicans’ biggest targets and a hotbed for political spending.
Between both candidates, campaigns and outside groups spent more than $400 million on the race, according to reporting from USA Today. In the weeks leading up to the election, Ohioans were inundated with political ads.
The Moreno win solidifies Ohio’s shift away from Democrats.
“There’s been a loss of faith in a lot of institutions, and so now, a lot of working-class voters are voting Republican. That was Sherrod Brown’s base,” said Jai Chabria, a political strategist and former adviser to Vance. “Sherrod Brown is one of those institutions that people have lost faith in.”
Brown has served as a senator in the Ohio delegation since 2007.
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Violet Jira is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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