Donald Trump would normally have little reason to be at a rally in Ohio – a state the presumptive Republican nominee twice carried comfortably – eight months before the November election.
But the former president’s endorsement, the most coveted in a GOP primary, hasn’t yet sealed the deal for businessman Bernie Moreno, who’s locked in a three-way primary that will be this year’s first test of Trump’s cachet in a contested Senate race.
Tuesday’s winner will take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown – one of two Democrats running for reelection in Trump states whose fates are crucial to Senate control this fall.
Democrats are carefully eyeing the high-stakes Republican primary, with an outside group running ads that boost Moreno over state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Their spending suggests they see Moreno as the preferred candidate to go toe-to-toe with Brown in a state that’s been trending red. The state went for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 before swinging to Trump four years later.
Though Trump is set to appear at a Saturday rally hosted by a super PAC supporting Moreno, national Republicans – who have endorsed in primaries in many of their other targeted seats this cycle – have stayed out of this race, believing that any of the three men can defeat Brown.
But Dolan recently secured the backing of two prominent Ohio Republicans – former Sen. Rob Portman and Gov. Mike DeWine. Their engagement has thrust into this race the split in the Ohio GOP between the Trump and more establishment wings, effectively pitting the two self-funding candidates against each other in the final stretch.
As of Thursday, GOP campaigns and outside groups had combined to spend more than $34 million on the primary,…
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