The Republican Party is determined to regain control of the Senate in 2024. After losing the majority in 2020 and falling short of recovering it in 2022, the 2024 electoral map offers many possibilities to not fail in this third opportunity. With West Virginia almost in the pocket after the retirement of Joe Manchin, Ohio is another one of the key states. Because of this, Donald Trump has already chosen his candidate to unseat incumbent Sherrod Brown (D).
Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), is in charge of leading Republicans to the majority in the Senate. Unlike his predecessor, Rick Scott (R-FL), who decided not to get involved in the primary process, Daines is playing hard to choose candidates from key states, with the goal of advancing those who have the best chance to win a general election.
He has already endorsed names in Montana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Nevada but has not yet done so in Ohio, where Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno are vying for the right to face Brown, who arrived in the Senate in 2007.
I am honored and thankful to have the endorsement of @realDonaldTrump for United States Senate from the Great State of Ohio.
With President Trump back in the White House, we will Make America Great Again! pic.twitter.com/HJ9hKpex56
— Bernie Moreno (@berniemoreno) December 19, 2023
Although Daines affirmed that the three could prevail in a hypothetical head-to-head against the Democrat, former President Trump could have made the decision easier for him since he officially supported Moreno. He is an outsider businessman of Colombian origins campaigning to "turn Washington around."
He already had the support of JD Vance (R-OH), a potential colleague, who stated that he is the only candidate capable of unifying the Ohio Republican Party, both the most traditional wing of former Governor John Kasich and the one closest to Trump.
"It's time for the entire Republican Party to UNITE around Bernie's campaign for Senate, so that we can have a BIG victory in what will be the most important Election in American History," the president wrote on his Truth Social account, where he also added that Moreno is "exactly the type of MAGA fighter that we need in the United States Senate."
The businessman launched his campaign in April when he was barely averaging 6% in the polls. However, as the months went by, he managed to climb to first place even before Trump's official endorsement. Along with Montana and West Virginia, Ohio is the third state defended by Democrats in which the former president won in 2016 and 2020.
