A Republican upstart trying to unseat Ohio’s last big time Democrat got a major boost when his personal friend was named as GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump’s running mate.
Car dealership entrepreneur Bernie Moreno told The Post this week that his pal Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) could be the game changer to help the party finally unseat the three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown in November — and cement GOP control of the Senate.
“[Vance] is second most important surrogate that I could possibly have in my campaign,” Moreno, 57, told The Post at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis. “He was instrumental in my primary.”
Vance and Moreno have been friends since 2017 — and ran against each other in the 2022 Senate primary until Moreno dropped out and endorsed him.
“We both love this country. We both understand we couldn’t have accomplished what we have achieved anywhere else. We both know America can only succeed when we strengthen our middle class. And we both are sick of forever politicians that sell us out,” Moreno said.
They’re now figuring out how best to deploy Vance across the state to rally for Moreno, insiders said.
“J.D. Vance will campaign for Bernie Moreno as much as possible and be a huge help in Ohio,” said Mike Berg, a communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Brown, 71, who has represented the increasingly red Buckeye State in the Senate since 2007, has repeatedly survived tough races there, bedeviling state and national GOPers for years.
“He’s a coy, coy, coy, slippery little sucker. He’s a cicada, he emerges from the ground every four or five, six years — in this case, five — and now he’s a Trump loving bipartisan moderate, which in reality, of course, is insane,” Moreno declared.
He continued: “Because he’s the most liberal extreme member of the United States Senate,” citing Brown’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act and Biden’s “open border” policies.
Brown has been leading by as many as five points several recent polls show, but Moreno insisted he was still within the margin of error, attributing Brown’s polling edge to name recognition.
Berg and other Republicans believe even with split ticket voters, the political tide is turning in their favor.
Trump won the state in 2020 by nearly 500,000 votes, a feat likely to be exceeded in the upcoming 2024 contest. Republicans have also made taking the Senate a top priority.
A Moreno victory would help the GOP gain control of the chamber — which Democrats currently control 51-49.
Still, Brown may have one nuclear card to play: abortion rights.
Despite being deep red, Ohio citizens voted in November to enshrine abortion rights in their state constitution.
When asked if he would vote for a national abortion ban, Moreno said he agreed with Trump, who has come out in support of leaving abortion laws to individual states — but Moreno left the door open to supporting further federal restrictions.
“The word ban is an invention of the Democrats in the media,” Moreno said, suggesting the issue of could be handled at the federal level like alcohol. “Is it restricted? Ok. So can we use that same kind of framework to say that after 15 weeks, there’s some common sense restrictions.”
