One Month Out: Ohio’s Republican Senate Primary Continues to Grow More and More Brutal

One Month Out: Ohio’s Republican Senate Primary Continues to Grow More and More Brutal

With Ohio’s Republican Senate primary just one month away and a second debate tonight, two things are certain about this bruising contest: one, this will be a messy fight until the end, and two, no candidate will come out unscathed. With so many attacks in this field directed at each candidate’s character, there is no Republican that voters can trust. 

But for those who haven’t been keeping track, here’s a recap of what you’ve missed, and what you need to know about the race with one month left:  

A Race to the Right  

• Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan all have reckless and out of touch positions on issues like abortion, health care, and border security that show they only care more about winning the title of most-MAGA. 
• Abortion: Moreno, LaRose, and Dolan have tried to outdo the others over the last few months on abortion – all agreeing to support a national abortion ban – despite Ohio voters repeatedly voting to protect access to abortion. 
• Health care: Even though a record 477,793 Ohioans signed up for health care access through the Affordable Care Act this year, all three Senate candidates have opposed the bill and are interested in repealing it. This of course could leave those 477,793 enrolled without health insurance.  
• Border security: Moreno, LaRose, and Dolan have all tried to leverage border security as a political issue, but in doing so revealed they cared more about using this crisis as a political issue then actually solving the problem. That’s why all three came out against the bipartisan border bill.

Endorsement Fights: 

• There is no winning for Ohioans when their candidates care more about extreme endorsements than the issues that matter. 
• Moreno is leading the race with the endorsements of national MAGA Republicans – from Donald Trump to sitting U.S. Senators like Ted Cruz to failed politicians like Kari Lake and Vivek Ramaswamy. 
• For LaRose, he’s had to suffer the embarrassment of losing out on the Trump endorsement immediately after sharing his belief that Trump would stay out of the primary. But LaRose has managed to scrounge some support from extremist organizations, like the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life and the Buckeye Firearms Association.   

Attack Websites and Ad Wars 

• Moreno, LaRose, and Dolan’s fights haven’t just been limited to endorsement squabbles and petty insults. No, these candidates have taken to the airwaves to go after each other as the entire field jumps to the right and attempts to prove they’re the most out of touch with Ohio voters. 
• Moreno and his Buckeyes Values PAC have lambasted LaRose as too LGBTQ+ friendly in a new ad.  
• Not one to let things lie, LaRose and the Leadership for Ohio Fund have gone after Moreno for being soft on immigration on air and online (a hit that Moreno is alsoarguing against LaRose). The LaRose camp also launched dolanisademocrat.com and bernielibfax.com to double down on attacks that his opponents are secret liberals. 
• And of course, let’s not forget team Dolan and the Buckeye Leadership Fund, which has not only compared Moreno to Bernie Sanders, but launched an ad trying to prove to Ohio Republicans that anti-Trump Dolan is MAGA enough to win the primary. 

From dropping opposition research to millions of dollars in ads, we’ve still got a month and this race to the bottom can only get worse. 

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