Trump endorses Bernie Moreno, ex-car dealer, in Ohio Senate race

Former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday endorsed Bernie Moreno in Ohio’s Republican Senate primary, strengthening the candidacy of Mr. Moreno, who has collected several high-profile endorsements in his tight race against two more experienced politicians.

With just three months until the primary, public polls show a close race between State Senator Matt Dolan, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Mr. Moreno, a former Cleveland car dealer.

The winner will face Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat seeking a fourth six-year term. Several recent public polls have shown Mr. Brown leading among three Republicans and having the easiest time defeating Mr. Moreno.

a poll of Emerson College and WJW-TV, an affiliate of Cleveland Fox, showed on Nov. 13 that Mr. Brown was 11 points ahead of Mr. Moreno, more than double his lead over Mr. Dolan and Mr. LaRose. a poll on Oct. 19 from the Ohio Northern University Institute for Civics and Public Policy, Mr. Brown showed a 22-point lead over Mr. Moreno.

Mr. Trump did not directly mention Mr. Moreno’s Republican competitors in a series of social media posts, but pointed to Mr. Moreno’s status as a “political outsider” as a valuable asset in a race against Mr. Brown. Mr. Moreno has never held elected office but has been an active Republican donor in recent years and ran unsuccessfully for the party’s Senate nomination last year.

Mr. Moreno will “fight the corrupt Deep State that is destroying our country,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media post.

Mr. Moreno has been skeptical of Mr. Trump’s political rise, calling him in 2016 a “madman invading the party.” But he has since turned his thinking around. Emily Moreno Miller, his daughter, was a Republican National Committee official during Trump’s reelection bid, and her husband, Rep. Max Miller of Ohio, is a former Trump White House aide who won his first election last year.

“I couldn’t be more grateful or humbled to have President Donald Trump’s full and total support at this crucial moment in the campaign,” Moreno said in a statement, adding that a Republican takeover in the Senate and a victory for the Mr Moreno Trump in presidential battle ‘will make America great again!’

Trump’s imprimatur proved valuable last year in the Republican primaries ahead of the midterm elections, but less so in a general election.

Across the country, his hand-picked candidates lost close races, including a landslide in Pennsylvania, where Democrats flipped a Senate seat and ensured Republicans would remain in the minority for the next two years. Trump-backed candidates in the five most competitive House races all lost.

Democrats downplayed Trump’s support and predicted the Republican primaries would be even more divisive.

“Bernie Moreno has made it clear that he will not fight for Ohioans and that he does not understand the issues facing their daily lives,” said Reeves Oyster, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Democratic Party. “As these primaries heat up, it’s clear that this slugfest will only get messier, nastier and more expensive from here.”

In Moreno’s previous Senate primaries, Trump’s support proved decisive for J.D. Vance, who won the Republican nomination before defeating Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee, in the general election. Mr. Vance endorsed Mr. Moreno this year.

Mr. Moreno has also been endorsed by Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.