On Tuesday night, at 10:50pm, approximately three hours after the polls closed in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno was declared the winner of the Buckeye State's Senate race. With such a win, Moreno unseated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, a vulnerable incumbent who had served for three terms. While he handily won reelection in 2018, Brown became increasingly vulnerable as Ohio has grown more and more red.
Decision Desk HQ projects Bernie Moreno (R) wins the US Senate election in Ohio.#DecisionMade: 10:50 PM EDT
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 6, 2024
Follow live results here:https://t.co/IWJYuBuYFK pic.twitter.com/HdRucpiJfK
With 50 percent of the vote in, former and potentially future President Donald Trump was declared the winner of the state's 17 electoral votes. Trump won in 2016 in 2020 by about 8 percentage points, wildly outperforming the polls for both of those years. Moreno, who was endorsed by Trump in December of last year, cruised to a primary win in March, also wildly outperforming the polls for his win in a three-way race. Moreno almost certainly benefited from Trump's coattails.
Like Trump, Moreno has capitalized on his status as a "political outsider." He previously worked as a car dealer, turning one such dealership into one of the largest dealership groups in the country, as his campaign has often touted.
Brown's supporters, as we've covered, have also been particularly hostile towards Trump, from letters to the editor claiming that Trump brought the second assassination attempt upon himself, to claiming that President Joe Biden didn't go far enough in referring to Trump supporters as "garbage."
Trump didn't merely endorse Moreno; he also called out Brown, who's long falsely perceived to be a moderate Democrat. Last month, as vulnerable Democratic incumbents increasingly began to tout their appreciation for Trump. The Republican nominee, however, shut down such senators, including Brown.
Ohio's U.S. Senate race was consistently considered the most "Toss-Up" race this election cycle. In the final weeks of the race, however, the polls and forecasts increasingly favored Moreno. As was always likely to be the case, Moreno's win means a change for control of the chamber has been projected, as Republicans are projected to flip control of the Senate. Earlier on Tuesday night, Republican Sen.-Elect Jim Justice won and flipped the seat out of West Virginia, vacated by Sen. Joe Manchin who was a Democrat turned Independent.