Honestly, if you looked at the early polls for the 2024 Ohio Senate race, you probably thought Sherrod Brown was safe. He had that "rumpled suit" populist energy that seemed to stick in Ohio, even as the state turned a deep shade of Republican red over the last decade. But by the time the dust settled on November 5, the political landscape had shifted. Bernie Moreno, a businessman and former car dealer who’d never held public office, unseated the three-term incumbent. It wasn't even a nail-biter by the end of the night.
Moreno pulled in 2,857,383 votes, which basically boils down to 50.1% of the total. Brown trailed with 2,650,949 votes, or about 46.5%. That’s a gap of roughly 206,000 people. If you’re looking for why it happened, you’ve gotta look at the "red, white, and blue wave" Moreno talked about in his victory speech in Cleveland.
The Half-Billion Dollar Battleground
This wasn't just any election. It was the most expensive non-presidential race in U.S. history. We are talking about $483.4 million spent on ads, flyers, and door-knocking. If you lived in Ohio during the fall of 2024, you couldn't turn on a TV or open YouTube without seeing a negative ad.
Republicans basically outspent Democrats by a hair, thanks in part to a massive $40 million infusion from crypto-industry PACs like Defend American Jobs. They hammered Brown on immigration and his ties to the Biden-Harris administration. On the flip side, Brown’s team spent millions trying to paint Moreno as a "used car salesman" who couldn't be trusted, specifically highlighting legal settlements from his business days.
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The Trump Factor and the Coattails
Donald Trump won Ohio by over 11 percentage points. That is a massive margin. Sherrod Brown actually outperformed Kamala Harris—he got about 120,000 more votes than she did in the state—but it wasn't enough to survive the top of the ticket.
- Trump’s Ohio Margin: 11.2%
- Moreno’s Victory Margin: 3.6%
- Brown's Over-performance vs Harris: 2.5%
Basically, there were tens of thousands of "ticket-splitters" who voted for Trump and Brown. But there weren't enough of them. Moreno won eight counties that Brown had carried back in 2018. We're talking about places like Mahoning, Trumbull, and Portage. These are the blue-collar, "Valleys" of Ohio that used to be the bedrock of the Democratic Party.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Issues
A lot of pundits thought abortion would save the Democrats. In 2023, Ohioans voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. Brown’s campaign bet big on this, constantly reminding voters that Moreno was "100% pro-life" with no exceptions.
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But when the AP VoteCast data came out, it showed a different story. Only about 1 in 10 Ohio voters said abortion was their top concern. Meanwhile, 4 in 10 said the economy and jobs were the priority. Another 2 in 10 pointed to immigration.
Moreno leaned into this. He talked about "invasion" at the border and the cost of eggs. It resonated. Even if people liked Sherrod Brown personally—and many did—they were tired of the status quo in D.C.
Demographics and the Shift
The numbers tell a story of a state that has officially left its "swing state" status behind.
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- White Voters: Made up 84% of the electorate. Trump won 60% of them.
- Hispanic Voters: Trump actually led Harris by 2 points among Hispanics in Ohio, a trend that helped Moreno (who is the first Latino senator from Ohio).
- Urban vs Rural: The cities (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati) stayed blue, but the suburbs and rural areas went deep red.
The End of an Era for Ohio Democrats
With Brown’s loss, the Ohio Democratic Party is basically down to one statewide officeholder: Justice Jennifer Brunner on the Ohio Supreme Court, and she wasn't up for re-election this year. The GOP swept all three contested Supreme Court seats as well.
Bernie Moreno’s win helped secure the GOP’s 53-47 majority in the Senate. It also means that for the first time since 2007, both of Ohio’s senators are Republicans. With JD Vance moving into the Vice Presidency, Moreno actually became the senior senator from Ohio the moment he was sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Why This Still Matters
This race was a case study in how national politics can swallow up local popularity. Sherrod Brown had high favorability ratings for years. He worked with Trump on trade. He stood on picket lines with autoworkers. But in a presidential year, in a state that has shifted this far right, even a "Dignity of Work" populist couldn't bridge the gap.
Next Steps for Ohio Voters:
- Watch the Seniority Shift: With Moreno now the senior senator and Governor DeWine's appointee taking Vance's seat, Ohio's influence in the Senate depends on how these new players navigate the GOP majority.
- Monitor Federal Spending: Brown was a king of bringing home federal grants for infrastructure; keep an eye on whether the new delegation maintains that flow of "pork" to the Buckeye state.
- Track the 2026 Gubernatorial Race: With the Senate settled, the focus now shifts to who will replace Mike DeWine in 2026, which will be the next major test for the Ohio Democratic Party's survival.