COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. Senate race has started to heat up between Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Republican Bernie Moreno ahead of the 2024 general election this November.
There are fewer than six months to go until Election Day when many eyes across the country will be focused on the Buckeye State. The amount of spending on the candidates has increased in the final stretch ahead of the race.
What You Need To Know
- The Ohio Senate race is critical to help decide the political makeup in Washington
- The race is between incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, and Republican Bernie Moreno
- The Senate race will happen in November
The U.S. Senate race between Brown, and Moreno could play a key role in which party controls the chamber next year. Republicans are seeking to turn Ohio’s political landscape on Capitol Hill.
“It’s still a state the Democrats can win under the right circumstances,” said Justin Buchler, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University. “But, it has been leaning towards Republicans. So, Republicans see it as a potential pickup. So, Sherrod Brown is a little bit out of step with the state, partially because he’s a Democrat and partially because he leans very far to the left.”
Data from the Federal Election Commission shows Brown’s campaign fund is far bigger than Moreno’s. As of the end of March, Brown had $16 million on hand, which is nearly eight times the amount in Moreno’s chest. But, this race is also attracting lots of money from outside sources.
“It’s hard to get definite numbers because not all independent groups report. There’s some that do and some that don’t report,” Buchler said. “We also have a variety of not-very-well-enforced rules on coordination, so it’s hard to get a sense of exactly how much money is being spent by independent groups given reporting requirements.”
$150 million has been spent on ads for this race, according to AdImpact, which is a third-party company that specializes in campaign analysis. That amount is more than any other U.S. Senate, or Congressional race across the country, and only trails the race for the White House.
“It is a competitive senate race,” Buchler said. “You’re going to have candidates that need to reach voters across a bunch of different media markets that require spending across all of those different media markets. That’s going to add up. So, it’s really about the relationship between the competitive, the competitiveness of the election and the number of different media markets in which the candidates have to run their ads.”
Overall, AdImpact found $2.5 billion dollars has been spent on ads for all races in November. That’s up nearly 50% from this time four years ago. Buchler said there is a lot at stake this fall, with the results of Ohio’s Senate race potentially having several ripple effects.
“For example, a president is trying to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court or lower courts or even the Executive Branch,” Buchler said. “If that president does not have control of the Senate, the opposing party can block nominations. Divided government makes it very difficult to legislate in any way, and we wind up with gridlock.”