COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican Bernie Moreno is relying on key surrogates — from a former primary opponent and potential future colleagues to conservative media personalities and grassroots groups — to drive GOP voters to the polls.
Mr. Moreno is running against three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown. The race that could determine which party controls the Senate in 2025.
Democrats hold a 51-49 seat majority and are expected to lose West Virginia, where Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin III is retiring. Defeating another Democrat in a red state — either Mr. Brown in Ohio or Sen. Jon Tester in Montana — would be enough for Republicans to hold the majority.
With former President Donald Trump leading the ballot, Republicans like their chances in Ohio, which was a swing state but has trended toward the GOP. Mr. Trump won the state by 8 points in 2020.
“I think he’s going to win Ohio by 12 or 13 points,” Sen. Roger Marshall said of Mr. Trump. “And I think that Bernie’s going to be right there.”
The Kansas Republican, who campaigned with Mr. Moreno in Ohio this week, was speaking to a group of volunteers who were set to go door-knocking in the northern Columbus suburb of Westerville.
Mr. Moreno “offers a Republican majority to help support President Trump’s agenda,” Mr. Marshall said, citing key policies of “securing our southern border, keeping Americans safe, getting rid of inflation, [creating] jobs, opening up American agriculture, American manufacturing, American energy.”
Mr. Marshall told The Washington Times that he could see Mr. Moreno winning by 7 or 8 points. Recent polls showed a tighter race, with Mr. Brown averaging a 1-point lead.
While Mr. Marshall has campaigned in a few other states, including Wisconsin and Texas, he sees Ohio as crucial for the GOP’s 2024 prospects and improving the Senate map for the party moving forward.
Mr. Moreno had several other Republican senators come to Ohio to campaign on his behalf. On Monday, he was in the Dayton area with Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, all of whom are running for leadership promotions in the next Congress.
“We’re going to work really, really hard,” Mr. Moreno said. “We’ve been to every single corner of Ohio.”
Also speaking to the door-knocking volunteers in Westerville was Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who ran against Mr. Moreno in the three-way GOP primary.
“I can tell you that you don’t know how tough somebody is until you go a couple rounds with him. And this man’s tough,” Mr. LaRose said of Mr. Moreno. “This is the guy that we need to send to Washington, not only because he’s going to represent Ohio’s values, which Sherrod Brown has not done for decades, but also because he’s going to go there and fire Chuck Schumer.”
Mr. LaRose touted Ohio’s early voting numbers, which had reached nearly 1 million ballots cast as of Tuesday.
“That includes very strong participation from registered Republicans, very strong participation in Republican counties, Republican-leaning counties,” he said. “And so I think the word has gotten out there that if the other side votes for four weeks and we only vote for one day, that’s going to be a problem for us.”
Indeed, on a recent evening, the few voters who answered doors knocked on by Americans for Prosperity Action senior adviser Donovan O’Neil had already voted.
Paul Stokell said he voted a straight GOP ticket, and he felt that was especially important in the Senate race.
“It’s just time for a change, and Ohio is ripe for that,” he said.
Mr. O’Neil said that employees and volunteers for AFP Action, the GOP’s largest grassroots advocacy group, are out seven days a week door-knocking and trying to drive turnout for Mr. Moreno.
With two weeks until Election Day, he said he thinks the race is trending in Mr. Moreno’s direction, but there are many voters “still trying to feel through the TV ads and the noise to make a decision.”
“When it comes to the biggest issues that we’re facing, from border security and immigration reform to the inflationary policies coming out of Washington, Bernie Moreno has experience in the negative and positive impacts of that,” Mr. O’Neil said.
He cited Mr. Moreno’s background as a Colombian-born national who legally immigrated to the U.S. at a young age and became a citizen at 18 as the reason he’s invested in fixing the broken immigration system and his experience owning car dealerships as enabling him to see the business impacts of government regulations.
After the door knocking, Mr. O’Neil and his volunteers joined a larger group of a few hundred Republicans for the Ohio stop of the Battleground Talkers Tour.
The event, led by conservative radio and podcast hosts Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher and Bruce Hooley, also featured remarks from Mr. Marshall and local Ohio GOP Rep. Mike Carey, among other state officials.
But it was Mr. Moreno who drew the most applause from the fired-up crowd.
“Put it all on the field. That’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “We have to win, but we have to win big. It can’t just be a small victory. It’s got to be a big victory. And I need all of you to do that for me.”
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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