COLUMBIA STATION, Ohio — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno and his senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, made a campaign stop in Northeast Ohio on Tuesday.
The pair spoke with 200 donors at a home in Columbia Station. It was the first time that Conway has appeared with the Cleveland businessman since being named a senior adviser to Moreno's campaign in April.
Conway ran former President Donald Trump's successful campaign in 2016 and went on to become a senior counselor at the White House. "I'm dispatched to help with donors, with voters, with looking over the survey research that's done. It's being done by someone else, but I'm able to look at that as a pollster of decades," Conway said when asked about her role in the Moreno campaign.
Moreno believes he has a lot in common with the former president. "For me, it's the same thing. I really should be enjoying my life right now, but what I've seen….the direction this country going and the other candidates, I don't think they can make it happen. What we need to have happen is why I'm jumping into this race," he told 3News.
At least 5 other Republicans have entered the race to replace the retiring Sen. Rob Portman. The race for the GOP nomination has quickly devolved into a test of loyalty to Trump, despite his 2020 election loss and subsequent impeachment for allegedly inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot (he was acquitted by the Senate). NBC News reports Moreno once called Trump a "maniac" and a "lunatic" in emails prior to the 2016 Republican National Convention, but has since publicly lauded the "victories" of the former president's term, particularly on the economy and immigration. Unlike some of his GOP opponents, however, Moreno does not believe last fall's election was "stolen" from Trump.
Rep. Tim Ryan is the lone Democrat to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate so far.
The primary election is set for next summer.
Previous coverage of the Ohio U.S. Senate race:
- 'Hillbilly Elegy' author eyes Senate bid in Ohio
- Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno's campaign for U.S. Senate raises over $1 million in first 30 days
- Who's in, who's out? A running list of the possible contenders for Ohio's soon-to-be open seat in the U.S. Senate
- Tim Ryan enters U.S. Senate race to fill Rob Portman's seat