by Mary Lou Masters
The conservative Sentinel Action Fund (SAF) announced on Wednesday its first seven-figure investment in Ohio to encourage early voting, and endorsed Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (pictured above, left), the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.
SAF’s announcement is the first of multiple seven-figure investments it plans to make in Ohio this cycle, with the super PAC also launching a “Skip The Line Ohio” website urging Republicans to request and return their absentee ballot, according to the group. Moreno secured the GOP Senate nomination in March, beating out two other prominent Republicans to take on longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown (pictured above, right) in November.
“Ohio is a critically important state for Republicans to retake the Senate majority and make a change in Washington,” SAF President Jessica Anderson said in a statement. “Sherrod Brown has failed his constituents — voting for Biden’s failed economic agenda, open borders, and soft-on-crime laws. This November, voters will have an opportunity to replace Sherrod Brown and bring new leadership to the U.S. Senate by electing conservative champion Bernie Moreno.”
“To support the right ideas, Republicans must maintain our calls for election integrity, and we must also have a robust election infrastructure to reach Ohioans who embrace early voting and are ready to cast their ballot for Moreno,” Anderson added.
Along with the website, SAF will engage in door knocking, texting and digital advertisements to turn out the early vote, according to the super PAC. SAF conducted a messaging poll among Ohio voters in early April, which found that 74% of Trump supporters were more likely to vote early after being told that the former president is now using the phrase “too big to rig.”
SAF is aiming to close the early-voting gap with Democrats in 2024, as the party has shown an advantage in recent cycles that have yielded GOP losses. Democrats out-paced Republicans by 10 points in 2022 among those who voted early by mail or in-person, as well as by six points in 2020, according to NBC News’ estimates.
The super PAC ran a similar initiative ahead of Pennsylvania’s primary on April 23, where Republican David McCormick officially secured the nomination to take on vulnerable Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
SAF’s Pennsylvania efforts — in conjunction with the Republican State Leadership Committee PAC and Keystone Renewal PAC — was attributable for 75% of all new permanent vote-by-mail list signups, including 24,000 Republican enrollees compared to Democrats’ 13,000, according to a memo released on May 2. Republicans increased their mail-in returns by 7% since the 2022 primary in Pennsylvania at more than 160,000 ballots, while Democrats saw a drop from 550,000 to 467,000.
Brown has been leading Moreno in polling in a head-to-head race anywhere from two to 22 points, according to FiveThirtyEight’s compilation. Public surveys have yet to be released since the March 19 primary.
The Cook Political Report characterizes Brown’s race as in the “Toss Up” category, along with other vulnerable Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. Open seats in Michigan and Arizona, as well as Casey’s and Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s, are considered “Lean D.”
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Mary Lou Masters is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Bernie Moreno” by Bernie Moreno and “Sherrod Brown” by Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. Background photo “US Capitol” by Mark Fischer CC2.0.
