Campaign

Trump to stump for Moreno ahead of Ohio Senate GOP primary

by Caroline Vakil - 03/12/24 5:00 PM ET

AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he departs after speaking during the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., Feb. 24, 2024.

Former President Trump is slated to stump for Republican candidate Bernie Moreno on Saturday ahead of the Ohio Senate GOP primary next week.

Trump’s campaign announced Monday that he would be a special guest speaker in Vandalia, Ohio, for a Buckeye Values PAC rally. That PAC wrote in a statement on X, the formerly Twitter, that it would be hosting a rally for Moreno and Trump.

The former president endorsed Moreno in December in the race to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) and state Sen. Matt Dolan (R) are also running for the seat.

Moreno has won endorsements from Ohio Republicans Sen. JD Vance and Rep. Jim Jordan, while Dolan has received the backing of Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and former Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

But Trump’s appearance on Saturday is his most public involvement yet in the primary race, which takes place March 19.

An Emerson College Polling survey released last month found Brown leading all of his GOP challengers, though Dolan is trailing the Ohio Democrat by the smallest margin, at 1 point. LaRose and Moreno both trail Brown by 2 points.

All of the hypothetical matchups fall within the poll’s margin of error, which is plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates the seat as a “toss up.”