Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine broke ties with Donald Trump on Monday, favoring Matt Dolan over Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno in the state’s three-way Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Supported the senator.
Mr. DeWine broke ranks with the former president and called Mr. Dolan the party’s best bet in defeating Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in November.
Mr. Brown is considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the Senate up for re-election this fall, while Mr. Dolan is a moderate Republican and the only one who did not actively seek support from Mr. Trump in the primary. He is positioning himself as a candidate for
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In a letter to Ohioans, DeWine and his wife, Fran, urged them to vote for Dolan. They praised Dolan’s “service, experience and integrity,” writing, “He listens. He fights. And he knows how to get results in Ohio.”
DeWine’s decision continues a rift between establishment Republicans in the once battleground state and the party’s increasingly dominant pro-Trump faction, which twice elected him by wide margins. It highlights that there is. The Ohio Republican Party became the first state in the nation to endorse Trump as a presidential candidate this year.
Just over two weeks ago, Mr. DeWine told reporters he had no intention of endorsing him in the Republican primary, which also featured his fellow state official, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. But that’s before the March 19 primary gets even closer, with no apparent runaway leader and a large number of Republican voters still undecided.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine speaks during a campaign stop at the Mandalay Event Center on November 4, 2022 in Moraine, Ohio. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Moderate former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman similarly joined the race late in the race and endorsed Dolan on Friday.
Mr. DeWine’s move is less likely to be a blow to Mr. Moreno, who has been a vocal supporter of Trump, than Mr. LaRose, a former Green Beret in his second term in state office who has been trying to carve a winning path in the race.
LaRose frequently points out that Moreno and Dolan are billionaires who have self-funded their campaigns, while he is just a “millionaire.” Mr. Moreno first started a luxury car sales business in Cleveland and later made his fortune with blockchain technology, which generates “blocks” of information and transactions into a secure and transparent ledger. Dolan’s family owns baseball’s Cleveland Guardians.
Moreno campaigned across central Ohio on Monday with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who is backed by Trump. He also enjoys campaign support from other big-name Trump allies, including Donald Trump Jr. His support also includes pro-Trump Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, pro-Trump Rep. Jim Jordan, Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky’s Ted Cruz and Texas’ Ted Cruz and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
But Mr. Dewine’s decision leaves only such conservative support for Mr. Brown, a three-term senator and one of the state’s most reliably elected politicians for decades. This suggests that this may not be sufficient.
Mr. DeWine is also a former state representative, congressman, U.S. senator and lieutenant governor. He won re-election in 2022 by a 25% margin, winning 85 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
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Republicans view Mr. Brown, one of the most liberal members of the Senate, as particularly vulnerable this year due to the unpopularity of his party’s President Joe Biden and his efforts to move to the political right in Ohio in recent years.
