COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican Bernie Moreno said he would limit himself to two six-year terms if elected to the U.S. Senate, drawing a contrast with the three-term Democratic incumbent, Sen. Sherrod Brown.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Times, Mr. Moreno discussed why he thinks that pledge is important even though senators typically rise to positions of power through seniority. He also explained what he hopes to accomplish if Ohio voters send him to Washington.
His legislative goals include restoring American manufacturing and energy independence, cracking down on illegal immigration and cutting federal spending.
“I push back hard at the idea that you have to be there forever to get things done,” he said. “Sherrod Brown has been there for 30 years and hasn’t gotten crap done.”
Mr. Brown has served in the Senate since 2007, or 18 years, and in the House for 14 years.
Mr. Moreno, a businessman who owned car dealerships and invested in blockchain technology, is a political newcomer, other than a brief run for Senate in 2022. He dropped out of the primary race after a meeting with former President Donald Trump. They agreed that the race was overfilled with “Trump candidates.” Sen. J.D. Vance went on to win that election and is now Mr. Trump’s vice presidential running mate.
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This year, Mr. Moreno won a three-way Republican primary to face off against Mr. Brown with Mr. Trump’s endorsement. He said he is running for Senate with the support of his wife, Bridget, and they agreed he would not serve more than two terms if elected.
“She gave me an alternative, which is a third term with a second wife,” he joked.
Many politicians campaign on a self-imposed term limit and don’t follow through on that promise. Sen. Deb Fischer, Nebraska Republican, is running for a third term after making the same pledge as Mr. Moreno.
“It changed when I got there and I learned how the place works,” Ms. Fischer told Omaha’s KETV. “I found out how much seniority matters in the United States Senate. It plays into your committee assignments. It plays into how you have made a network within not just the Senate but within the House to be able to work together on bills, to be able to advance legislation.”
Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, cited Mr. Brown’s seniority as one of the reasons he broke his typical straight Republican ticket voting streak to endorse and vote for the incumbent Democrat.
“Senator Brown has gained seniority in the Senate that is advantageous to Ohioans,” Mr. Taft wrote in a Dayton Daily News op-ed on Sunday. “He chairs the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee and sits on the Finance, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committees, all important to Ohio and our communities.”
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Mr. Moreno said Mr. Taft is “trying to make himself relevant.”
“The guy’s never had a job in the private sector and lived off his family name his whole life,” he said. “He also ended up being the most unpopular politician in Ohio history after being indicted for corruption. So pardon me if I don’t take his advice very seriously in terms of who he’s going to support or not support.”
While serving as governor in 2005, Mr. Taft pleaded no contest to violating ethics laws and was convicted on four misdemeanor counts of failing to report golf outings, dinners and other gifts. He received the maximum fine of $4,000 and remained in office through the end of his term.
In 1990, Mr. Taft defeated Mr. Brown in his bid for a third term as secretary of state. That was the only election Mr. Brown ever lost.
Mr. Moreno said he has no ambitions to become a nationally recognized career politician or use the Senate to run for higher office. He noted that he can’t run for president like many senators do because he was born in Colombia.
“That’s actually freeing,” Mr. Moreno said. “I don’t have to think about, ‘I have to get on Fox News every night. I have to go campaign all over the country. I got to constantly raise money.’ I got one more election after this one.”
At the end of two terms, Mr. Moreno said, he would want to be known for having “the greatest staff in the history of Washington, D.C.,” and doing good things for Ohio.
If he defeats Mr. Brown and Mr. Vance is elected vice president, Mr. Moreno will become the senior senator from Ohio on his first day in office.
He said his “good working relationship” with Mr. Trump and his “deeply close friendship” with Mr. Vance will help him obtain “a disproportionate amount of love for Ohio.”
Mr. Moreno said he wants to use his business experience as a senator to meet with CEOs and encourage them to invest in Ohio and bring job opportunities to the state.
“That is, to me, a lot more exciting than going to D.C. and arguing about bills that never pass,” he said.
Mr. Brown’s campaign declined The Times’ request for an interview but provided a statement instead.
“Ohioans know Sherrod fights for them — from saving the pensions of 100,000 Ohioans to working with Republicans to pass legislation to keep fentanyl out of Ohio,” the statement said. “While Sherrod works for Ohio, Bernie Moreno only looks out for himself — from stiffing his workers out of overtime pay they earned and shredding evidence to get away with it to supporting a national abortion ban and calling Ohio women ‘a little crazy’ for caring about making their own health care choices.”
The statement refers to lawsuits from former employees of Mr. Moreno’s car dealerships claiming wage theft. In one case alleging a failure to pay overtime hours, court records cited a deposition from Mr. Moreno saying he shredded documents, including monthly overtime reports, after selling the relevant dealership. He has denied any wrongdoing.
On abortion, Mr. Moreno told The Times he never called women crazy but said, “It’s crazy” that women are made to look like single-issue voters. The pro-life Catholic said he would “aspirationally” support legislation to enact a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape and incest and to save the life of the mother, but he does not see a path to passing it.
Mr. Moreno said Mr. Brown’s boast of legislation to sanction fentanyl traffickers is “like that annoying kid in high school that copies everybody else’s work and takes credit for it.” He said Sen. Tim Scott, South Carolina Republican, wrote the fentanyl bill.
Mr. Scott was the bill’s lead sponsor, and Mr. Brown was a lead cosponsor of the measure, which was approved last year. The two head the Senate Banking Committee — Mr. Brown as chair and Mr. Scott as ranking member. Each credited the other for cooperating to get the bill through the committee. The legislation was later included in a national security funding package Congress passed this year.
Mr. Moreno said he wants to focus on the economy, the top issue he hears about on the campaign trail.
He said a voter who came to one of his events pulled a receipt from his pocket and said he would support Mr. Moreno if he could tell him the cost of two large fries and a large strawberry milkshake at McDonald’s. The man had bought the treat to reward his son for doing well in school.
Mr. Moreno, who correctly guessed the cost was in the $14 to $15 range, said the interaction with a working middle-aged man who “has to tell his teenage son he can’t afford french fries” underscored the average voter’s concerns about the rising cost of living.
“And it gets worse,” he said. “When he gets home, he turns on the TV, what does he see? Hundreds of billions of dollars to another foreign country, more aid to countries that hate us, illegals pouring into the country that we’re giving them all kinds of food and subsidies, health care and education. He doesn’t understand why we have a government that refuses to take care of American citizens.”
Mr. Moreno said he would fight to lower the energy costs that drive up consumer prices through policies encouraging domestic energy production and curb “uber insane federal spending” that contributes to high inflation.
Federal energy investments should be focused on “abundant, affordable, reliable” sources such as coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear, he said. “Certainly windmills and solar panels at some point in the far future, when the technology is infinitely better, may play a role.”
He proposes eliminating electric vehicle mandates and subsidies.
Other policies include repealing government regulations that “choke corporations from hiring people and paying their workers” and supporting a pro-growth tax code that taxes corporations less so they can pay their employees more.
Mr. Moreno proposes cutting federal spending, requiring federal agencies to operate more efficiently and relocating most of them out of Washington.
“And then there’s some departments, like Education, that shouldn’t exist. It’s unconstitutional,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we give up on education. It’s the opposite. We take that money and move it to the states.”
On health care, Mr. Moreno said he is not looking to repeal Obamacare but would like to give the states more responsibility for Medicare and Medicaid, allowing them to experiment with competing visions and find what works best.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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