How Bernie Moreno defeated Sherrod Brown in the crucial Ohio Senate race

Sen. Sherrod Brown repeated the same refrain as he navigated the toughest campaign of his political career: “It’s always been Ohio.”

On Tuesday, it was Ohio that helped Republicans take control of the U.S. Senate by ousting Brown and electing Republican businessman Bernie Moreno.

“This is a new beginning for Republican leadership,” Moreno told his supporters in Westlake on Tuesday. “With President Trump and JD Vance in the White House, we will advance an agenda that is an American agenda, an agenda that says we are pro-immigration, but not pro-invasion.”

According to unofficial election results, Moreno defeated Brown 50-46%.

Tuesday's election marked the end of Brown's 18-year Senate career and the most expensive non-presidential election ever.

“We might be tempted to say that hope wasn’t enough,” Brown told fans in Columbus as he conceded the race. “We may be tempted to question ourselves and question whether we have worked hard or long enough. This is not our story. We believe that all work is dignified; We always will.”

Here are four takeaways from the Senate race:

Bernie Moreno gives victory speech after networks report Ohio Senate victory

According to Fox News and NBC News, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown lost to Bernie Moreno in the most expensive U.S. Senate race in history.

Donald Trump had a long coattails ahead of him

Former President Donald Trump is expected to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris and win the presidency.

The outcome in Ohio was never a question after Trump won the state in 2016 and 2020. But the former president increased his lead in the Buckeye State on Tuesday, defeating Harris by 11 points, according to unofficial results.

That was good news for Moreno, who bragged about his Trump endorsement in television ads and on the side of his campaign bus. Brown believed he could win if Harris was eight or fewer points behind, Axios reported, but Trump surpassed his previous victories and helped Moreno sail over the finish line.

Sherrod Brown is losing support in key areas

Brown based his political career on middle-class voters and strong union support. He led efforts to restore workers' pensions, limit the price of insulin and expand benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits in Iraq.

That resume has endeared Brown to independents and even some Republicans for years — particularly in Ohio's working-class Mahoning Valley district. Then Trump flipped the script and won over large swaths of white, rural America.

That was clear in Tuesday's election, when Brown voted alongside the former president for the first time. He lost support in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, while Moreno exceeded Republican numbers in 2018 in rural areas. Moreno also scored a victory in Delaware County near Columbus, where Brown and other Democrats saw potential to expand their suburban base.

Abortion rights have achieved nothing

Brown made abortion access a central issue in his campaign, buoyed by last year's vote to enshrine reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution. Anti-abortion Republicans pivoted after losses in Ohio and other states and distanced themselves from the idea of federal restrictions.

Moreno didn't quite get the memo. He said he supports the GOP platform that leaves abortion policy largely up to the states, but personally believes the country should pursue a 15-week national ban. He was also criticized for mocking older suburban women who support abortion rights, saying the Founding Fathers would “murder you” for such a belief.

Brown and his allies blasted Moreno's comments across the airwaves, believing it could derail his campaign, especially since some Republican districts supported the abortion rights amendment. That wasn't the case.

“Obviously we have to work on what it means to voters who Democrats are, but we are winning on these issues,” Assemblywoman Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said Tuesday. “There is no doubt about that.”

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According to AdImpact, Republicans and Democrats poured nearly $477 million into Ohio's Senate race, funding a barrage of mostly negative ads that disrupted Jeopardy for months. Some of the most prominent ads attacked Brown's record on transgender rights, a strategy Republicans used against Democrats in several states.

GOP groups spent slightly more in Ohio at $249 million, compared to $228 million for Brown and his allies. The biggest donors included Senate PACs on both sides of the aisle and a pro-cryptocurrency group that backed Moreno.

It's unclear whether the incessant advertising has done little more than frustrate voters, but the spending in Ohio underscores how quickly competition can add up for both political parties.

Donald Trump had a long coattails ahead of him

Sherrod Brown is losing support in key areas

Abortion rights have achieved nothing

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