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    • How Bernie Moreno beat Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s key Senate race
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    How Bernie Moreno beat Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s key Senate race

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    echoed Senator Sherrod Brown same refrain as he navigated the toughest campaign of his political career: “It’s always been Ohio.”

    On Tuesday, it was Ohio that helped Republicans win control of the US Senate removing Brown from office and the election of Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. Moreno, a luxury car dealer turned blockchain executive who has never held elected office, defeated Brown 50-46 percent, according to unofficial election results.

    “We might be tempted to say that hope wasn’t enough,” Brown told supporters in Columbus as he acknowledged the race. “We may be tempted to think and wonder if we have worked hard enough or long enough. This is not our story. We believe that all work has dignity; we always will.”

    Tuesday’s election ended Brown’s 18-year Senate career and the most expensive non-presidential race on record.

    Here are four conclusions:

    Donald Trump had a long tail to ride

    Former President Donald Trump won a second term in office Tuesday, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in a more decisive victory than polls had predicted.

    “This is a new dawn of Republican leadership,” Moreno told supporters in Westlake. “When President Trump and JD Vance are in the White House, we will advance an agenda that is an American agenda, an agenda that says we are pro-immigration but not pro-invasion.”

    Ohio’s outcome was never in question after Trump won the state in 2016 and 2020. But the former president widened his margin of victory in the Buckeye State on Tuesday and beat Harris with 11 points, according to the unofficial results.

    It was good news for Moreno, who boasted his endorsement from Trump in TV ads and along his campaign bus. Brown believed he could win if Harris trailed by 8 points or less, Axios reportedbut Trump overcame his past victories and helped Moreno cross the finish line.

    “Did Trump do better in Ohio because of Trump, or did Trump do better in Ohio because of Ohio?” Republican strategist Mark Weaver said. “Whatever the factor, it hurt Sherrod Brown.”

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    Bernie Moreno gives a victory speech after the networks report the Ohio Senate victory

    Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was defeated by Bernie Moreno in the costliest US Senate race in history, according to Fox News and NBC News.

    Sherrod Brown is losing support in key areas

    Brown anchored his political career around middle-class voters and staunch support for unions. He led efforts to restore workers’ pensions, cap the price of insulin and expand benefits for veterans who were exposed to toxic burns in Iraq.

    For years, that resume endeared Brown to independents and even some Republicans — especially in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley. Then Trump flipped the script and conquered areas of white rural America.

    That was evident in Tuesday’s election, the first time Brown shared a ballot with the former president. He lost support in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, while Moreno improved on the 2018 Republican numbers in rural areas. Moreno also won in Delaware County, near Columbus, where Brown and other Democrats saw potential to grow their suburban base.

    Abortion rights did not tip the scales

    Brown has made access to abortion a key issue in his campaign, bolstered by last year’s vote to enshrine reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution. Republicans who oppose abortion have evolved after losses in Ohio and other states and distanced themselves from the idea of ​​federal restrictions.

    Moreno did not quite understand the note. He said he supports the GOP platform, which leaves abortion policy largely up to the states, but personally believes the country should aim for a 15-week national ban. He too faced criticism for mocking elderly, suburban women who support abortion rights and saying the Founding Fathers would “kill you” for such a belief.

    Brown and his allies criticized Moreno’s on-air comments and believed they could sink his campaign, especially since some republican counties supported amendment of abortion rights. He didn’t.

    “Obviously we have to work on what the Democrats mean to voters, but we’re winning on the issues,” House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said Tuesday. “There’s no doubt about it.”

    Money talks – up to a point

    Campaigns and outside groups have poured nearly $477 million into the Ohio Senate race, according to AdImpactwhich funded a deluge of mostly negative ads that interrupted Jeopardy for months. Republicans attacked Brown’s record transgender rightswhile Democrats painted Moreno as anti-worker by highlighting past processes who accused him of not paying his employees overtime.

    GOP groups spent slightly more in Ohio, at $249 million, compared to $228 million by Brown and his allies. The biggest funders included Senate PACs from both sides of the aisle and a pro-cryptocurrency group that supported Moreno.

    It’s unclear whether the nonstop ads did nothing more than frustrate voters, but Ohio’s spending underscores how quickly competitive races can stack up for both political parties.

    “The idea that throwing money at television is a way to convince people is a dinosaur from the early 2000s,” Weaver said. “You just don’t win hearts and minds like that anymore.”

    Statehouse Bureau Reporter Erin Glynn contributed.

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