CLEVELAND — On March 19, Ohio Republican voters will decide their party's nominee for the U.S. Senate as Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose and Bernie Moreno face off in the primary election for the opportunity to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall.
So who are the three men taking part in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate? Let's look at each candidate.
MATT DOLAN
The 59-year-old Chagrin Falls resident and Ohio state senator describes himself as "conservative" and "results-driven." He is making is second attempt at serving in the U.S. Senate after falling short in the 2022 primary to eventual winner J.D. Vance.
Dolan has served in the state Senate since 2016 and is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He previously served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2005-10 before resigning to run for the new Cuyahoga County Executive position. He lost to Democrat Ed FitzGerald, but six years later was elected to represent suburban Cuyahoga County in the state Senate's 24th district.
"I know I have the skillset and I have the experience. I've fought hard for Ohio, I've fought very hard for Northeast Ohio. I've put myself into leadership positions to make Ohio a better place to live and a better place to work," Dolan told 3News' Russ Mitchell when he announced his candidacy in Jan. 2023.
Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, has drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump in the past.
In 2021, Trump wrote of Dolan, "Anybody that changes the name of the once storied Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not be running for the United States Senate representing the Great People of Ohio. I know of at least one person in the race who I won’t be endorsing. The Republican Party has too many RINOs!"
Dolan has differed from opponents and GOP contemporaries in the past by pushing back on Trump's lies that the 2020 election had been "stolen," and despite sharply criticizing the Biden administration on issues like immigration and inflation, he also vocally supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed and that President Biden signed.
On March 8, Dolan received the endorsement of former Ohio U.S. Senator Rob Portman. Three days later, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also gave his endorsement to Dolan.
FRANK LaROSE
The 44-year-old Akron native and Army Green Beret was elected as Ohio Secretary of State in 2018 and was overwhelmingly reelected in 2022, earning 59% of the statewide vote. He began his political career in the Ohio Senate, representing the 27th District from 2011 through 2019.
LaRose describes himself as a "battle-tested conservative" who represents the Republican party's best chance to unseat Brown and flip the Senate back to GOP control.
“To be blunt, we’ve got a country to save,” LaRose said in an interview with The Associated Press after announcing his candidacy in 2023. “And I’m not an alarmist or a sky-is-falling type of person, but I see the direction our country’s heading and it’s concerning, and I think other Ohioans are concerned, too.”
As Ohio's elections chief, LaRose has managed to walk a delicate line between GOP factions that were divided by falsehoods about election integrity sewn by former President Donald Trump. A previous critic of Trump himself, LaRose endorsed him for president in 2024 a week after entering the Senate race. That marked a reverse in position from 2020, when he said it was inappropriate to take political sides when you were running elections. Last year, LaRose fired one of his top aides, press secretary Rob Nichols, after social media posts surfaced in which Nichols criticized Trump.
LaRose came under fire in 2023 when voters overwhelmingly defeated a measure to raise the threshold for amending the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60%. LaRose was the public face of that Aug. 2023 Issue 1, reportedly saying behind the scenes that measure was "100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November." In Nov. 2023, Ohio voters passed Issue 1, creating a constitutional amendment guaranteeing an individual's right to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care.
BERNIE MORENO
Like Dolan, the 57-year-old Moreno is back for his second attempt at winning the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate after falling short in 2022 to Vance. This time, he has the backing of the most influential Republican in the nation: Former President Trump.
"It's time for the entire Republican Party to UNITE around Bernie's campaign for Senate, so that we can have a BIG victory in what will be the most important Election in American History," Trump said in his January endorsement of Moreno. "Bernie Moreno will be an outstanding United States Senator, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement — He will never let you down!"
A Colombian immigrant, Moreno made his reputation in Northeast Ohio as a luxury car dealer before recently turning his interests to blockchain technology, and currently serves as president of his own company and chairman of the national personal chauffer service Dryver. Initially a critic of the bombastic Trump — he once called him a "lunatic" and "maniac" during the 2016 election — he has since sought to cater to the 45th president's conservative base and later called his hardline immigration stances "100% right."
Seeking to match Trump's rhetoric, Moreno's campaign has already heavily featured the former president in its ads while the candidate himself has pledged things like "restor[ing] the integrity of our elections" (an apparent nod to Trump's false claims of rampant voter fraud) and calling for "absolutely no more money for Ukraine period" in its war against Russia.
In Jan. 2024, the Associated Press reported that three discrimination suits were filed against Moreno in Cuyahoga County between 2015 and 2017. Two accused Moreno and Bernie Moreno Cos. of gender and age discrimination, respectively. The third, in which Moreno was not named, alleged race discrimination against a dealership run by a BMC subsidiary. All three lawsuits identified by the AP were settled out of court, and terms of any resulting settlement deals were kept private. Often, such deals include a clause preventing either side from disparaging the other.
Also in Jan. 2024, Moreno discussed the outcome of a Massachusetts lawsuit that he lost related to overtime wage theft on a radio show. In 3News' VERIFY series, Stephanie Haney showed that Moreno's claims that the Massachusetts Supreme Court overturned federal law was false.
WHAT THE CANDIDATES SAID IN THEIR LAST DEBATE
The three men squared off in a debate on March 6 at Miami University in Oxford. Here is what they said about several key issues:
Securing the border
LaRose: "Three military divisions could secure the border. They don't need to be there very long, eight months maybe 12, until the wall can be completed. We must make it clear that if you are here illegally, you will be deported."
Moreno: "If you cross into the country illegally, you are immediately returned. You aren't arrested. You're not detained. You're just immediately returned, and you forfeit your right to make that asylum claim for life."
Dolan: "I'm the only one in this race who has called for securing and sealing the border, which means we are temporarily closing the border to immigration because we need to build a wall, we need to get technology, we need to give border patrol more authority to act."
Abortion
Moreno: "Let's get to a 15-week standard where after 15 weeks, there are some common sense restrictions so that in this country, the greatest country on earth, we don't have elective late-term abortions."
Dolan: "I have never deviated from the fact that we need to have three exceptions; life of the mother, rape and incest."
LaRose: "We need to be supportive of women that are making difficult choices to make sure that they can make those life-affirming choices like having a child and giving that child up for adoption. We also need to make sure the cost of starting a family isn't so prohibitive for people."
Making Ohioans lives easier
Dolan: "What we need to do in Washington is what we did here in Ohio, and that's put more money in the taxpayers' pockets. That means helping small businesses."
LaRose: "We need to cut taxes, streamline regulations. We need to be not just energy independent, but energy dominant. That means drill for oil, drill for gas, mine for coal."
Moreno: "We have to unleash the engine of prosperity, which is our marketplace. We have to make sure we have a regulatory environment that doesn't crush businesses."
When asked what is one hot-button issue on which they could reach across the aisle to get something done, Dolan pointed to securing the border, LaRose said cutting spending and Moreno said enacting term limits.
WHEN ARE THE POLLS OPEN?
Polls are open throughout Ohio for the March 19 primary election from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Remember, you are still permitted to vote as long as you're in line before the polls close at 7:30 p.m.
WHERE IS MY POLLING PLACE?
You can find your polling location HERE.
WHEN CAN I VOTE EARLY IN THE MARCH ELECTION?
Early in-person voting will be available at your local board of elections from Wednesday, Feb. 21 through Sunday, March 17. You can see the early voting hours below...
- March 4-8: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- March 9: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- March 11: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
- March 12: 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
- March 13-15: 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
- March 16: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- March 17: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
CLICK HERE to find your local board of elections address if you're interested in early voting.
3News' Ryan Haidet and Tyler CareY, along with 10TV WBNS and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
MORE US SENATE ELECTION COVERAGE:
- Final Ohio Republican Senate primary candidate debate reaction, fact checking and analysis: Ohio Has Issues with Stephanie Haney & Mike Polk Jr
- Ohio Republicans running to face Democratic US Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall vie for voter trust
- Ohio Republican Senate primary candidate forum live updates, post-forum reaction from Republicans and Democrats, and more: Ohio Has Issues
- Ohio Republicans Matt Dolan, Frank LaRose, and Bernie Moreno face off for first statewide debate
- Former President Donald Trump endorses Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno for US Senate in Ohio