Democrats are interfering in Ohio’s Republican Senate primaries, pushing for Trump’s choice
A Democratic group is wading into Ohio’s Republican Senate primaries with a new television spot aimed at promoting the conservative credentials of Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman who has won the endorsement of former President Donald J. Trump.
The spot criticizes Mr. Moreno as ultra-conservative and too aligned with Mr. Trump. But by placing the ad in the final week of the primaries, these criticisms are likely to be seen as badges of honor by Republican primary voters, a tactic Democrats have used in other races in recent years.
A group called Duty and Country spends about $879,000 on the advertisementwhich will be used across the state, according to AdImpact, an advertising tracking company.
The group is largely funded through the Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC supporting Democratic efforts to maintain control of the House.
Mr. Moreno is running for the Republican nomination against State Senator Matt Dolan and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. The winner will face Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent.
“Democrats continually underestimate the America First movement at their own peril,” said Reagan McCarthy, Moreno’s communications director. “They thought President Trump would be easy to beat in 2016 and then they had their clocks cleaned when he took down Hillary Clinton. The same thing is going to happen to Sherrod Brown this year.”
Mr. Moreno has struggled to pull away from his main challengers despite support from Mr. Trump and others, including Senator J.D. Vance, a Trump-backed Republican who was elected in 2022. Mr. Moreno won their support by embracing the hard conservative line. positions that Democrats believe are potentially easier to challenge in a general election.
“When Ohio voters go to their polls, they deserve to know the truth about Bernie Moreno – and the truth is that Moreno is a MAGA extremist who embraced Donald Trump, just as he embraced his policies to ban abortion nationwide and to repeal” the Affordable Care Act, said Hannah Menchhoff, spokeswoman for the Senate Majority PAC.
Republicans must flip two seats to regain power if President Biden is re-elected, but only one if the White House returns to Republican hands. Republicans are already expected to gain one seat in West Virginia after Sen. Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, announced he would not seek re-election.
In last month’s California Senate primary, Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat, had a spot describing Steve Garvey, a Republican and former Major League Baseball player, as too conservative. Mr. Schiff and Mr. Garvey will face each other in their deep blue state in November.
During the 2022 race for Pennsylvania governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro took out an ad in the Republican primary denouncing the conservative credentials of Doug Mastriano, the Trump-backed candidate in the race. Mr. Mastriano won and Mr. Shapiro easily defeated him to win the governor’s office.