The Republican Bernie Moreno won the Ohio Senate race on Tuesday, beating the Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in a victory that helped give the GOP control of the upper chamber.
The Associated Press called the race for Moreno at 11.27 pm ET, when, with over 90% of the estimated vote counted, Moreno was leading Brown by nearly five points.
Brown had represented Ohio in the Senate for almost two decades. He described his loss as “a disappointment, but it is not a failure” during a concession speech in Columbus.
“It will never be wrong to fight for organized labor, it will never be wrong to fight for the freedom of women to make their healthcare decisions, it surely will never be wrong to fight for civil rights and human rights,” he said.
Moreno, a former luxury car dealer, came to the US from Colombia at age four and claimed he learned English through Ronald Reagan’s addresses. He had the support of Donald Trump, and sought to persuade voters that Brown was “too liberal” to represent the state.
“We talked about wanting a red wave. I think what we have tonight is a red, white and blue wave,” he said in an acceptance speech in Cleveland. “We’re tired of being treated like second-class citizens in our own country. We’re tired of leaders that think we’re garbage and we’re tired of being treated like garbage.”
The contest in Ohio was the most expensive Senate race this year and among the most expensive ever. According to the Associated Press, Ohio saw half a billion dollars in campaign ad spending this election cycle while Pennsylvania saw $340m and Montana, which was also seen as key to determining control of the Senate, had $280m.
The race brought attention to Ohio’s shifting demographics. When Brown was elected US senator in 2006, Ohio seemed like a prime state for Democrats, with expansive urban centers and manufacturing that would favor labor-aligned candidates. Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012 when Democrats were strongly represented in statewide elected office.
But the state has since become more conservative.
As the manufacturing industry languished, the state has seen its population stagnate, becoming older and whiter. Brown was the lone Democrat to hold statewide elected office. Republicans have a supermajority in the state’s senate and house of representatives.
The state’s offices of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general, and state supreme court, are all held by Republicans. Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, is Ohio’s second US senator. And on Tuesday, the state overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump.
Moreno did not strike a significantly deep chord with Ohio voters, but he enjoyed Trump’s popularity in the state.
His campaign was not without controversy.
In September, Moreno was revealed to have falsely claimed to have an MBA from the University of Michigan, also signing legal documents claiming the degree; Moreno’s team blamed “a staffer who made a mistake”.
Brown’s campaign sought to tout his pro-worker bona fides and distance himself from Biden’s White House and Kamala Harris, even though the president shepherded billions in infrastructure spending to rural regions of Ohio.
Brown also tried to address concerns about immigration. Some campaign ads showed Brown onboard a speedboat, donning a bullet-proof vest, to cast himself as a tough-on-immigration candidate.
Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage
