U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, center, speaks with Allen County Sheriff Matt Treglia, left, and Allen County Republican Party Chairman Keith Cheney, right, at a petition signing event Thursday in Lima.
Submitted Photo | Courtesy of Robert Brooks
LIMA — As Ohio voters look ahead to next year’s election, much of the focus has been on who will challenge President Joe Biden on the Republican presidential ticket. However, there is another incumbent Democrat who will face a GOP challenger, namely U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who has been in that seat since 2007. While two Republican challengers, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Ohio Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, both have experience in the halls of political power, one candidate, Bernie Moreno, hopes to bring an outsider’s perspective to Washington.
“I’m running for one simple reason: This country means everything in the world to me,” Moreno said during a Thursday stop in Lima. “It gave me every opportunity in the world to succeed, and this is my way of giving back to this country.”
Born in Columbia, Moreno immigrated to the United States as a child with his family, originally settling in south Florida. He then travelled to Michigan to go to college, with his sights set on making his name in the automotive industry. His career took him from working with Saturn when it first started as an automotive brand before transitioning to automotive sales. Eventually, his work in sales brought him to Cleveland, going from one struggling Mercedes-Benz dealership to 15 successful dealerships over the next 12 years. After a brief, unsuccessful run for U.S. Senate in 2002, Moreno is again setting his sights on Washington, hoping to follow in the footsteps of former President Donald Trump and current Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in running a successful “outsider” campaign.
“Do you want a professional career politician who’s going to go there for the rest of his life or who thinks he can be president someday?” Moreno said.
By contrast, Moreno has pledged that, if elected, he will spend a maximum of two terms in the Senate.
“I think that makes a difference because when you term limit yourself, you’re giving yourself a deadline,” he said. “You’re clearly saying, ‘This is not a career. I’m not looking for a job.’ I’m just going there to serve.”
Moreno maintains that this pledge distinguishes him from the political experience of his two opponents. Moreno has also taken stances against perpetual funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia, as well as halting the migration at the southern border and denying amnesty to those who have already entered the country.
“If you’ve come into this country illegally and you have a fake claim for asylum, you cannot stay in this country because you’ve broken our laws,” he said.
For Moreno, electing either of his primary opponents would be advocating for more of the same approach to government that is already seen in Washington, which is to spend one’s way out of a problem.
“I think their viewpoint on solutions always comes through a government lens,” he said. “They always think more money equals better results, and that’s why they continue to raise spending. In reality, we should be advocating for a growing and thriving middle class.”
To learn more about Moreno, go to berniemoreno.com. To learn more about LaRose and Dolan and their Senate campaigns, go to franklarose.com and dolanforohio.com. Brown’s campaign website is sherrodbrown.com
