Cleveland Businessman Bernie Moreno is making his second run as a Republican for U.S. Senate here in Ohio.

He made the official announcement Tuesday night in Milford at the Little Miami Brewing Company.  

What You Need To Know

  • Bernie Moreno is running for U.S. Senate for the 2nd time; he bowed out in 2022 amidst a crowded field

  • Moreno made the announcement in Milford and plans to work his campaign north from the Cincinnati area to Cleveland

  • A Colombian immigrant who became a U.S. citizen, his push for tighter border security drew cheers from supporters at his announcement

  • Moreno hopes to connect with working-class voters who will support his campaign with small donations

​“This is a hard-working part of Ohio that’s really representative of the whole state,” Moreno said. “You have rural values here. You have urban values here and some people who work in Cincinnati.“

Moreno chose to make the announcement in southern Ohio with a plan of then working his campaign back up north to his home.

The successful car dealership owner turned candidate dropped out of a crowded race in 2022 that was eventually won by JD Vance. Moreno said he believes the key to success this time is narrowing the field of contenders early.

“We’re going to try to make it a two person race so we don’t end up with a messy primary where we kill each other,” Moreno said.

He already is taking aim at Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Democratic incumbent. 

“Brown’s going to tell everyone he’s a moderate. In reality, he’s Joe Biden,” Moreno said. “Brown is somebody who votes with the most radicals in his party. He talks a good game, but we’re going to expose him for who he really is.”

Moreno was also critical of how Brown handled the Covid crisis, including Brown’s push for a vaccine mandate that threatened jobs of unvaccinated health care workers.

“During the middle of a health emergency, Brown was on the phone with hospital CEOs demanding that nurses be fired,” Moreno said. “That’s not the country that I came to.”

Moreno is an immigrant from Colombia whose family came to the U.S. legally from when he was a boy.  He drew some of the biggest cheers from supporters at the announcement when he talked about improving border security, one of his main campaign issues, along with fighting inflation.

“We’ve gotta solve inflation, the border and Ukraine,” Moreno said.  “We’ve gotta get inflation under control and the middle class in this country is getting killed. We’ve gotta fix that,” he said.  Moreno also drew cheers when he talked about how Congress was able to quickly approve billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, while not being able to come to agreements on solving many pressing problems here at home.

Moreno revealed to the audience that he and Bridget, his wife of 34 years, recently dealt with a major health issue in their home: Bridget’s battle with cancer. 

“She’s a trooper and she inspires me every day,” Moreno said. “She came out of that more convinced than ever before that we have to fight for this great country and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Moreno is copying one part of the political playbook belonging to another: Bernie Sanders. While they couldn’t be more opposite on nearly every issue, they agree that it’s key to win the support of working-class voters.

“Please pitch in $5 or $10,” Moreno said.  “We’re going to create a grassroots movement to take out Sherrod Brown.”