COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio businessman Bernie Moreno has officially declared his candidacy for the Senate in 2024, setting up a potential showdown against Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. Moreno, a wealthy businessman from Cleveland, is now the second Republican to enter the race, following state Senator Matt Dolan’s announcement in January.
Moreno previously ran for Senate in 2022, but dropped out ahead of the primary after meeting with former President Donald Trump, who ultimately endorsed one of Moreno’s rivals, J.D. Vance. Trump won Ohio in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and Vance won the 2022 Senate race with nearly 7 points despite a spirited challenge from Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan.
The 56-year-old Moreno immigrated to the United States from Colombia in South America when he was 5 years old.
The Columbus Dispatch reported in 2022 that Moreno has a home worth between $5 million and $25 million in the Bahamas. He also has a yacht worth between $500,000 and $1 million, condos in Washington, D.C. New York, and houses in Columbus and Florida.
On top of that, he owned an auto dealership, M Motors Group, Inc., in Miami, Florida whichwas worth between $5 million and $25 million; he sold the dealership in August He also holds between $100,000 and $250,000 in Bitcoin, paperwork shows. Moreno has mortgages and business loans that add up to between $13.5 million and $66 million. An $805,000 Paycheck Protection Plan loan to Moreno’s auto dealership in Miami was forgiven in July.
The 2022 Ohio Senate race was one of the costliest in the country due to several self-funding candidates, and the 2024 race is shaping up to be similarly expensive and contentious. Other potential candidates who have expressed interest include Rep. Warren Davidson from the 8th district and Secretary of State Frank La Rose.
Brown is seeking his fourth term in the Senate and is one of several vulnerable Democrats the party defends in the upcoming cycle. While Ohio has trended increasingly Republican in recent years, Brown won his last race in 2018 by nearly 7 points and had more than $3.4 million in his Senate campaign account as of the end of last year.
However, Democrats will face a challenging map in 2024, with incumbents like Senator Joe Manchin in West Virginia and Senator Jon Tester in Montana facing similarly tough re-election battles. Additionally, the race in Arizona is expected to be unpredictable due to a three-way contest.
Earlier this month, former President Trump took to social media and said Moreno would be “hard to beat” in the election.