Bernie Moreno Wins Ohio Republican Senate Primary

 Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno won the Republican Party nomination for U.S. Senate in Ohio on Tuesday night, according a projection from the Associated Press.

The Trump-backed candidate will now face Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in this fall’s upcoming elections in a race that could tip the balance of power in the Senate.

Moreno, who was born in Bogota, Colombia, amassed nearly 50% of the vote with 80% of the votes being counted, according to the AP. Cleveland-area state Sen. Matt Dolan garnered 33% of the vote while Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose amassed only 17%.

“What we have to do now is, as a fully united party, understand we have one mission, which is to get rid of Sherrod Brown,” Moreno said in a victory speech in Cleveland. “I wear with honor. My endorsement of President but from President Trump, I wear that with a badge of honor.”

 

Moreno said that the Republican Party was the “party of the future” and was the party that was “going to rebuild the middle class in this country.”

If elected, Moreno would be one of the wealthiest members of the Senate and would be its only South American-born member, according to The New York Times.

Brown enters the general election with more than $13 million cash on hand, a significant advantage to the $2.4 million that Moreno has after he had to fight in a brutal primary race.