Dem
51
GOP
49
One of the most contested Senate races in the country is in Ohio, where Republicans would love to knock off Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). But first they need to pick a nominee. There are three serious candidates:
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) has now jumped in and endorsed Dolan on account of that good old "candidate quality" thingie. He wants a Republican who can beat the popular Brown and doesn't think the Trumpy Moreno, who has lots of money but no experience in elected office, can do the job. He has seen enough Trump-endorsed Senate candidates lose winnable elections to know how this movie could end if Moreno gets the nomination. Needless to say, this puts DeWine and Trump at odds, with each of them potentially campaigning for opposing candidates. Former Ohio senator Rob Portman has also endorsed Dolan.
Are the Democrats ratf*cking here? In the immortal words of Sarah Palin: "You betcha." They are running ads telling voters not to vote for Moreno because he is a true conservative and is backed by Donald Trump. Will child psychology work with Republican voters once again? It worked just great in California, so why not Ohio?
All recent polling shows Dolan and Moreno close, with LaRose far behind. As of Dec. 31, 2023, Dolan had raised $9.1 million, Moreno had raised $7.3 million, and LaRose had raised $1.9 million. It could go either way, with DeWine now trying to get Dolan over the finish line because he would be a far stronger candidate in the general election than Moreno. The primary is next Tuesday. (V)