Bernie Moreno, the Trump-backed Republican businessman and political newcomer, will take over the seat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has held for 18 years, the Associated Press has projected.
Heading into Election Day, the race was one of the tightest and costliest in the country.
Brown鈥檚 campaign committee raised just about $84.6 million in 2023 and 2024, more than tripling the $24.2 million raised by Moreno鈥檚 campaign committee, according to Oct. 16 filings with the Federal Elections Commission. That excludes hundreds of millions doled out in outside funding. Brown saw the most in contributions of this cycle鈥檚 Senate candidates, according to the FEC.
As Ohio has trended redder with each recent election, the senior senator became the lone Democrat elected statewide. Even as the GOP took every other statewide political office in 2018, Brown won his reelection by nearly a seven-point margin then.
He had long said this reelection cycle would be his toughest, though.
At a banquet hall in Westlake on Tuesday night, a crowd mostly clad in Make America Great Again hats and Bernie Moreno buttons cheered each time the former car-dealer and entrepreneur鈥檚 face flashed on screen. Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, both eyeing a run for governor in 2026, worked the crowd.
Moreno took the stage around 11 p.m. to declare victory, characterizing the night鈥檚 national GOP wins as a 鈥渘ew wave.鈥�
鈥淲e talked about wanting a red wave. I think what we have tonight is a red, white and blue wave in this country,鈥� Moreno said.
Moreno in March knocked off Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) and Secretary of State Frank LaRose in a bruising primary, becoming the GOP party nominee taking on Brown. It was not his first run for U.S. Senate, though. He exited the 2022 primary early, following a conversation with former President Donald Trump. This time around, Trump鈥檚 endorsement propelled Moreno forward.
On the trail, the son of Colombian immigrants talked at length about immigration issues, backing Trump鈥檚 pitch for mass deportations of immigrants in Springfield and elsewhere.
鈥淲e're going to make certain that the people who come to this country are invited here, like I was, like my family was: on our terms,鈥� he said Tuesday.
Moreno said he doesn鈥檛 plan to diverge from former President Donald Trump鈥檚 policy priorities. He鈥檚 also called for an overhaul of federal electric vehicle rules.
鈥淭hey need to be gone first thing in January,鈥� he said.
And he鈥檚 advocated for elimination of the U.S. Department of Education and protection of qualified immunity for police officers.
Brown first took office when he beat out Gov. Mike DeWine, then one of Ohio鈥檚 senators, in 2006. As Democrats across the country bleed union backing, Brown still commanded it, with endorsements from the lion鈥檚 share of organized labor this year.
鈥淭his is a disappointment, but is not a failure,鈥� Brown said Tuesday. 鈥淚t will never be wrong to fight for organized labor or for the freedom of women to make their health care decisions. It surely will never be wrong to fight for civil rights and human rights.鈥�
On the trail, his reelection effort focused heavily on abortion rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Ohio voters鈥� subsequent passage of a 2023 constitutional amendment protecting access to the procedure.
