Trump-backed Bernie Moreno wins Ohio Senate Primary

Bernie Moreno will win the Republican Ohio Senate Primary, which is also a victory for Donald Trump who backed the Cleveland-based businessman in a three-way contest. The contentious and expensive primary had become a divisive proxy race between Trump loyalists and the state’s more traditional conservatives.

Trump endorsed Moreno in December and headlined a rally for him last weekend. Moreno leaned heavily into his backing from Trump, with the former president omnipresent in his campaign’s advertising. “MAGA alert: President Trump wants you to vote for outsider businessman Bernie Moreno,” said one of the campaign’s final ads. The former car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur will face three-time Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the Fall. Brown is the only Democrat to win a statewide election in Ohio since 2006.

In northwest Ohio, state Rep. Derek Merrin prevailed over former state Rep. Craig Riedel a day after Trump endorsed him. Merrin will face longtime US Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November’s general election.

Both Brown and Kaptur are considered among the year’s most vulnerable Democrats. With Democrats holding a narrow voting majority in the Senate and Republicans maintaining a thin margin in the House, both races have already drawn outsized attention from national party leaders.