On Sunday, Arizona Republican politician and former candidate for Arizona Governor Kari Lake announced her endorsement for Republican businessman Bernie Moreno in his run for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.
Lake made the announcement at a county Republican rally north of Columbus that she attended along with Moreno, Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) in support of Ohio State Issue 1 to raise the threshold to amend the state constitution. Lake spoke to about 500 people at the Union County Republican Party Summer Farm Fest in Marysville.
According to Lake, she is excited about Moreno’s candidacy and thinks he is the best candidate to unseat Brown.
“I’m really excited about Bernie. He’s an America First candidate who wants to go to Washington DC and actually represent the people of Ohio. We have a real great opportunity here to pick up the seat, take it away from Senator Sherrod Brown and hand it over to an America First, patriotic, hard-working Ohioan to actually bring Ohio’s voice to Washington D.C. I’m very excited about it,” Lake said.
.@KariLake on her endorsement of @berniemoreno
"I'm really excited about Bernie. He's an America's First candidate who wants to go to Washington DC & actually represent the people of Ohio.
We have a real great opportunity here to pick up the seat, take it away from… pic.twitter.com/ewidsCzpoG
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) August 7, 2023
Lake continued saying that Moreno is the candidate who is going to fight for Ohioans in Washington.
“We need strong America First Senators in D.C. Now Ohio has a really good opportunity here to get Sherrod Brown, who I guess is kind of like Joe Biden, out and we can bring in an America First Ohio-loving senator like Bernie Moreno. Sometimes we are faced with the decision of the lesser of two evils but this one is super easy. We have someone who loves this country, lived the American dream, and does not need this job. He probably doesn’t even really want to go to D.C. because D.C. is just corrupt and gross but he feels the need to do it because he loves his children he loves Ohio and you’ve got to have someone in there fighting for Ohio,” Lake said.
Moreno called Lake’s endorsement “major” and an honor.
“Another week, another major America First endorsement for Bernie! Kari Lake is on Team Moreno. There is no doubt Kari Lake is a leader in the America First movement. She’s a political outsider who has taken it to the political establishment every step of the way. She knows real-world leadership when she sees it, and I’m honored to have her endorsement,” Moreno said.
Moreno announced his campaign in April, saying that it’s time for a new generation of political outsiders to come in and get the job done to put America First.
“I’m running for US Senate because I’ve had enough of the insider politicians in both parties selling us out. They’re too weak and too cowardly to get the job done. We need a new generation of political outsiders with some spine to put America First,” Moreno said.
Republican State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), who finished third in last year’s primary election, also announced his candidacy. Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also running.
In 2022, Moreno ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Senate before withdrawing from the race before the primary. After meeting with former president Donald Trump, who would later support one of his opponents, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH), he decided to withdraw.
Moreno has received numerous high-level endorsements in his Senate run including Vance, Turning Point Action, Donald Trump’s Former Ambassador to Morocco David Fischer, Columbus Venture Capitalist Mark Kvamme, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and has received support from former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Since Ohio has shifted to the right in statewide and federal races since 2016, Brown is one of the more vulnerable Senate Democrats in the 2024 cycle.
The Ohio Star reached out to Moreno and Lake for comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Kari Lake” by Kari Lake and “Bernie Moreno” is by Bernie Moreno.