Former President Donald Trump swept the Electoral College and popular vote, scoring the trifecta of a Republican-controlled House, Senate, and White House, all backed by a majority Republican Supreme Court. Trump’s resounding mandate was a referendum on the economy and the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous border, as well as the media and results of the 2020 election itself.
Bernie Moreno, for his part, secured Republican control of the Ohio Senate on Trump’s endorsement, besting three-term incumbent Sherrod Brown by four points.
Congratulations to President Donald Trump and to our fellow Buckeye and Vice President-elect JD Vance on their election victory!
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) November 6, 2024
Congratulations to Ohio’s Senator-elect Bernie Moreno who will be part of a new Senate Republican majority in Washington!
Brown consistently led Moreno by a comfortable margin, but as the economy became a more prominent albatross for Democrats, and the reality of immigration set in with the transformation of communities like Springfield, Ohio, Moreno began to eat at Brown’s lead heading into September.
The day of Tuesday’s contest, Trump was polling ahead of VP Kamala Harris in Ohio by nine points according to AtlasIntel, but as in 2016 and 2020, outperformed expectations, this time by two points, picking up Ohio by an 11-point margin.
Moreno, in a dead heat with Brown heading into Tuesday, overcame Brown by four.
Brown notably skipped the DNC as the Democratic Party veered left, and he campaigned on fighting for Ohio jobs. Brown hit steel and union strongholds and took credit for the proposed New Albany Intel plant. But the CHIPS Act was hobbled by DEI provisions and pork, and Intel’s signature product failed key benchmarks in August, setting the lifeless chipmaker into a tailspin.
The Ohio plant is set to become part of an Intel-spinoff amidst the company’s delisting from the DJIA.
Brown wasn’t helped by a staffer’s angry tirade on the border, accusing Ohioans of racism, either.
But Ohio’s Senate contest still awaits news of who will fill the state’s other seat. Gov. Mike DeWine will be tasked with appointing the replacement of Ohio Senator and Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, and speculation is already rampant about DeWine’s choices.
Mike DeWine Must Not Replace J.D. Vance With Neocon-Favorite Matt Dolan https://t.co/upHHfv1isX
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) November 6, 2024
Calls came Wednesday for primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to take Vance’s seat, and such a selection would be true to Vance’s legacy in the Senate, if not DeWine’s.
A September poll showed Ramaswamy, should he choose to run, a clear favorite for DeWine’s job. Ramaswamy was favored over other likely gubernatorial candidates, including Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, by double digits. Husted may face liabilities for his close ties with DeWine and DeWine’s harsh COVID restriction legacy.
Pundits also weighed in on who DeWine should not choose.
With the Republican Party completely remade as Trump’s broad coalition against assaults on U.S. vitality in the form of manufacturing losses, unfettered illegal immigration, and decades of war, it’s unclear whether DeWine’s dying breed of Republican will hang on.
DeWine’s appointment could burnish his legacy as a dinosauric establishment Republican, or give a nod to Ohioans’ recent Senate picks in Vance, Moreno, and the remade GOP.
