OTTAWA, Ohio — U.S. Sen. candidate Bernie Moreno, joined by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro headlined the 2024 Lincoln Reagan Dinner Thursday night in Ottawa for the Putnam County Republican Party.
The county has been a Republican stronghold. In 2020, former president Donald Trump received over 80% of the vote in the presidential election against President Joe Biden.
So, why is Moreno, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown in November, campaigning there with only 26 days until the election?
"The reality is, I will represent all of Ohio," Moreno said. "Sherrod Brown only wants to represent Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati."
Moreno spent the evening campaigning about topics such as the economy, immigration and foreign policy, areas he says Americans are upset over current policies regarding them.
"We're going to win because people are sick and tired of the status quo," he said. "They are sick and tired of the high prices, the open borders, the instability all over the world and the assault on American energy."
Shapiro, a supporter of Moreno's politics, said he is impressed with the Senate candidate.
"Bernie has been around all the time, he's not stopping one day, and I've been with him for just part of the day? We've hit about 4-5 different stops, and he's just not going to stop until he takes the senate seat," Shapiro said.
He added that people gravitate to Moreno because he understands what they seek in a leader.
"He's an entrepreneur," Shapiro said. "He's someone that obviously knows business, knows how to talk to people and understands the problems people are going through because he's had to make payroll. That's a huge deal in modern America where you have an entire political class that is completely separated off from the guy that actually has to be paid for a living."
Brown's campaign provided the following statement about Moreno:
“Bernie Moreno is trying to distract from his record of screwing his workers out of the overtime pay they earned and deliberately shredding evidence a judge ordered him to keep to try and get away with it, selling Chinese-made cars that hurt Ohio auto workers, supporting a national abortion ban and calling Ohio women ‘a little crazy’ for caring about their right to make their own healthcare decisions. Ohioans know that while Sherrod Brown fights for them, Bernie Moreno only looks out for himself.”
Brown is going for a fourth term, but Shapiro thinks Ohioans will vote for a new face.
"I think that Bernie, obviously when you meet him he's got a tremendous sense of authenticity," Shapiro said. "You don't get that from a lot of other candidates. I've campaigned with a lot of different people and let's just say there is a difference between public persona and what goes on behind the scenes. That's definitely not the case with Bernie Moreno."