Comparing Candidates - Sherrod Brown and Bernie Moreno

Photo via: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

With the presidential election race in full swing, it’s easy to lose sight of local and statewide elections in the chaos. This election, a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio is up for grabs and the race could be a pivotal piece that determines the majority in the Senate.

The defending candidate Sherrod Brown, 71, is a Democrat who has held the seat since 2007. He was born in Mansfield, Ohio in 1952 and received a bachelor's degree in Russian studies from Yale University and two master's degrees in education and public administration from Ohio State University. 

Throughout his tenure as senator, Brown has proven himself a progressive populist. This stance trends with his defense of LGBTQ+ rights and access to reproductive healthcare, including abortion. 

In general, Brown tends to vote in line with liberal issues, with the National Journal’s 2011 rankings having him tied with eight other members as the most liberal member of Congress. 

Additionally, Brown was noted by the website FiveThirtyEight to have voted in line with President Donald Trump’s Congressional positions 25.8% of the time, whereas he voted in line with President Joe Biden’s Congressional positions 98% of the time. 

On foreign policy, Brown has trended to vote anti-war. While a Representative of the House, he voted against going to war in Iraq. Brown has also urged President Biden to recognize Palestine as a state.

On March 1, 2024, Brown released a statement in response to reports of civilian deaths in Gaza City, stating that “it is clear that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is inhumane and unacceptable, and getting worse every day.” Brown called for humanitarian aid and, while acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself, questioned how civilian deaths improve their national security or the security interests of the United States. 

Brown considers himself a representative of Ohio first, especially in economic and trade issues. According to his website, Brown prioritizes job creation in Ohio, specifically through agriculture. Additionally, Brown serves on the Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, as well as the Committee on Finance.

On the Republican ticket and challenger to Brown’s 17-year-long tenure as senator is Bernie Moreno. Moreno, 57, was born in Bogotá, Columbia in 1967. At 5 years old, his family moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He became a U.S. citizen at 18. Moreno would then attend the University of Michigan, graduating with a business administration degree. 

For the majority of his career, Moreno worked in some form of car dealership and became president of the Collection Auto Group,  which he relocated to Ohio in 2005. In 2019 he sold off a number of his dealerships and pivoted to his blockchain-based company Ownum. 

In 2023, Moreno was endorsed by Trump and won the Republican primary race for the seat. 

Moreno’s views on former President Trump have changed over time. He is reported to have called Trump a “maniac” and “lunatic” in 2016. However, after 2021 he was reportedly approached by Trump and he began to change his tune, boasting of his Trump endorsement on his website. 

Many of Moreno’s policies follow in lockstep with Republican stances, such as being pro-life and pro-Israel. However, past statements have shown he once held different opinions. 

For example, his views on the LGBTQ+ community have changed dramatically from once sponsoring an LGBTQ+ event in Cleveland and sponsoring a bill to end hiring discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, to condemning LGBTQ+ activists for advancing a “radical” agenda of “indoctrination”.

AP News recently broke that despite his anti-LGBTQ+ stances, Moreno may have had an account on a website called Adult Friend Finder in 2006, although records show it has not been accessed since.

His profile states he is looking for “Men for 1-on-1 sex”. The AP confirmed the account was made using Moreno’s email, however the question as to whether he or someone with access to the email was the creator is unknown. 

Moreno’s lawyer provided a statement claiming that the account was created by a former intern named Dan Ricci, including the quote: “I am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago.” However, the AP has not been able to confirm this claim from Ricci himself. 

Ohio has trended right since 2016, but voting on Issues 1 and 2 in last year’s election shows that there is still a left-wing bloc in the state. With a slim Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, Ohio’s Senate seat could determine which party holds the gavel in the coming years.