GOP Senate battle in Ohio gets nasty in home stretch

Source: The Hill | March 16, 2024 | Al Weaver

The battle to become the Senate GOP’s nominee in Ohio against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is getting nastier by the day, just as former President Trump gets set to make his presence felt on Saturday.

What had long been a three-way brawl appears to have winnowed down to a two-way race between as businessman Bernie Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan (R), potentially squeezing out Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R).

“It certainly seems that way,” said Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio), a neutral in the fight who observed that those two candidates and the outside groups backing them are the main ones now messaging on TV.

Moreno has attacked Dolan as the anti-Trump figure in the race, while Dolan has labeled Moreno as a “phony.”

LaRose has slammed both rivals, but has little financial firepower to keep up with Dolan and Moreno, who are each self-funding their campaigns.

The attacks reached a crescendo on Thursday night when The Associated Press reported on an Adult Friend Finder profile attached to Moreno’s email address seeking, “Men for 1-on-1 sex.”

A former intern claimed he made the account as a “juvenile prank,” but the mere existence of the story sums up the state of the race.

“Clearly, it’s gotten pretty personal and ugly,” former Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) said. “There’s attacks on all three of them that are probably completely unfair and a stretch of reality. … Some of them are kind of beyond the pale.” 

Moreno appeared to be on the road to victory after he received one of Trump’s few endorsements in contested Senate contests late last year. But a poll released this week showed Dolan with a lead.

The poll by Emerson College and The Hill found Dolan leading Moreno by 3 percentage points — a major jump as he trailed both Moreno and LaRose in the same survey less than two months ago. 

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