INDEPENDENT, Ohio – From campaigns to advertising battles, there is a flurry of attacks and rhetoric in the final stages ahead of Tuesday’s contentious and expensive Republican Senate primary in Ohio.
Bernie Moreno, a major luxury auto dealer and businessman backed by former President Donald Trump, said his primary rival in the race, state Sen. Matt Dolan, called him a “RINO” It has repeatedly been criticized as a derogatory acronym. Just the name. ”
And he compared Dolan to Utah establishment Sen. Mitt Romney, who has been criticized by Trump and the MAGA movement.
Dolan, a former county attorney and assistant attorney general in Ohio whose family owns Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, told Fox News Digital on the eve of the primary that Moreno was “divisive. ” he said.
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Ohio Republican Senate candidates Matt Dolan (left) and Bernie Moreno (right) (Getty Images)
An outside super PAC supporting Dolan also slammed Moreno as “creepy” and “damaged goods” in a recent ad. The spot referenced an Associated Press report of him alleging that an account on an adult dating website was created for him in 2008 with an email linked to Moreno.
Moreno denied the report, calling it a “sick, last-minute attack by desperate people.”
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Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, another front-runner in the Republican primary battle, criticized both of his wealthy rivals for pouring millions of dollars into their campaigns.
As he cast his vote Tuesday, Mr. LaRose again attacked his rivals, arguing that “Mr. Dolan certainly has a very long liberal record. So does Mr. Moreno.”
Ohio Secretary of State and Republican Senate candidate Frank LaRose speaks with supporters during a campaign event in Hamilton, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon) (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
But candidates aren’t worried that the winner of Tuesday’s primary will be weakened by the crossfire. The candidate will face longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, seen as one of the most vulnerable Democrats, in a race that could make or break the Republican Party in November. Supported by the Senate majority.
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“I’m going to fly the Republican flag to defeat Sherrod Brown. The Republican Party will be united and Donald Trump will be joining us,” Dolan said in an interview with Fox News Digital in Columbus on Monday. I expected it.
Ohio State Senator and Republican Senate candidate Matt Dolan speaks at a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, March 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
In an interview with Fox News Digital after meeting with Republican activists in suburban Cleveland on Tuesday morning, Moreno predicted that Republicans in battleground states would rally behind the primary winner.
“The entire Republican Party is going to support whoever wins tonight, and I believe that’s me,” Moreno said.
“When this race is called tonight, we’re all going to come together because we have one goal in mind: to beat Sherrod Brown. This guy is bad for Ohio. He’s “It’s not good for Ohio,” he argued. “We need to take back control of the United States Senate and control of the United States Senate must pass through the state of Ohio.”
Democrats in Ohio and across the country focused on the intraparty fireworks, arguing that the shootout would weaken the eventual nominee.
But Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, disagrees.
Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance (left) speaks with party activists on March 19, 2024, in Independence, Ohio, campaigning on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (right). (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Vance, who has endorsed Moreno and campaigned continuously with him in the state for the past four days, is the winner of the 2022 Republican Senate primary in Ohio, which is more crowded and more flammable than the 2024 convention. became.
“You see this all the time. There’s a slugfest going on in the primaries,” Vance told Fox News Digital. “I’m not worried at all about these infightings spilling over into the general election. These things happen all the time, and I think Republicans know how to come together and win.”
Dolan said if he wins, he will preach unity.
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“I’m not interested in dividing the Republican Party. I’m interested in seeing Republicans win when they run conservative policies. When that happens, Ohioans and Americans are better off. That’s what I want. “It’s a message that sticks,” he said. he emphasized.
And Moreno agreed: “I think in the end we’ll all come together.”
But the candidate acknowledged, “Sometimes it gets personal. That’s okay. Listen, that’s what we signed up for. That’s part of politics.”
Fox News’ Jamie Vera and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report
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