Honestly, if you’d told someone ten years ago that Sherrod Brown would lose a statewide race in Ohio by nearly four points, they’d have called you crazy. Brown was the guy. The "rumpled suit" populist. The one Democrat who could still talk to union workers in the Mahoning Valley without sounding like a college lecture. But the ohio election results 2024 senate race didn’t care about past resumes. Bernie Moreno, a guy who made his fortune selling luxury cars and had never held office, took him down.
It wasn't even that close in the end. Moreno grabbed 50.1% of the vote to Brown's 46.5%. When the dust settled, Brown was out, and Ohio became a state with two Republican senators for the first time since 2007.
The Night the Blue Wall in Ohio Finally Crumbled
People kept waiting for the "Sherrod Magic" to kick in on election night. It never did. While Brown actually outperformed Kamala Harris by about 2.5%, it was sort of like trying to put out a forest fire with a garden hose. Trump won Ohio by over 11 points. That’s a massive mountain for any Democrat to climb.
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Basically, the ohio election results 2024 senate showed us that "ticket-splitting" is mostly dead. In the past, you’d have voters who loved Trump but still liked Brown’s "dignity of work" message. This time? Most of those folks just hit the Republican button all the way down.
Look at the counties. Moreno managed to flip eight counties that Brown had won back in 2018. We're talking about places in Northern Ohio like Mahoning, Trumbull, and Ashtabula. These are the old-school, blue-collar hubs. If a Democrat can't win the Mahoning Valley, they aren't winning Ohio. Period.
Why Bernie Moreno Won
Moreno’s strategy was simple: tie Sherrod Brown to the national Democratic party. He spent months hammering the idea that Brown was a "reliable vote" for the Biden-Harris administration. It worked. Even though Brown tried to distance himself—appearing in ads on speedboats and wearing bulletproof vests to look "tough on the border"—the voters didn't buy it.
Moreno also leaned hard into his Colombian heritage, becoming Ohio’s first Hispanic senator. He talked about "pro-immigration but not pro-invasion." It was a message that resonated in a year where the border and inflation were the only things anyone cared about at the grocery store.
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The Cash Fire: $483 Million Down the Drain?
This was the most expensive Senate race in the history of the world. Seriously. Over $483 million was spent between the two sides. You couldn't turn on a TV in Cleveland or Columbus without seeing an ad about Moreno’s old lawsuits or Brown’s stance on transgender athletes.
The GOP outspent the Democrats late in the game, thanks to huge chunks of money from the crypto industry and PACs like Defend American Jobs. It turns out that when you spend half a billion dollars on one seat, things get pretty nasty.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Results
A lot of pundits say Brown lost because he wasn't liberal enough, or because he was too liberal. Kinda misses the point. The real killer was turnout in the big cities.
In Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) and Franklin County (Columbus), the numbers were just... meh. If you’re a Democrat, you need those cities to be on fire. They weren't. Black voter turnout in urban centers has been dipping for a few cycles now, and 2024 was the breaking point. You can't lose the working-class valleys and also have a "quiet" day in Cleveland and expect to keep your job in D.C.
The Abortion Factor
Democrats thought the abortion issue would save them. After all, Ohioans voted to protect abortion access in 2023. Brown talked about it constantly. Moreno, meanwhile, was caught on tape saying it was "kinda crazy" that women over 50 cared so much about the issue.
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But by November 2024, the "abortion bump" had faded. Voters who cared about reproductive rights had already settled that at the state level the year before. When it came to the Senate, they were thinking about the price of eggs and the price of gas.
What Happens Now?
Bernie Moreno was sworn in on January 3, 2025. Because JD Vance moved up to become Vice President, Moreno actually became the senior senator for Ohio pretty much immediately. It’s a total sea change.
Ohio is now officially a "red" state. No more "purple," no more "swing state." The GOP has a trifecta in D.C. and a supermajority in Columbus. For Democrats, the path back is basically non-existent right now unless they can figure out how to talk to people in the suburbs and the factories at the same time.
Actionable Insights for Following Ohio Politics:
- Watch the 2026 Governor's Race: With Brown gone, the Ohio Democratic Party is looking for a new leader. Keep an eye on who emerges to challenge the GOP's hold on the statehouse.
- Track Moreno’s Committee Assignments: As a businessman, Moreno is likely to push for seats on Commerce or Finance. His influence on Great Lakes trade and manufacturing will be huge for Ohio’s economy.
- Monitor Voter Registration Trends: The shift in the Mahoning Valley wasn't a fluke. Check the Secretary of State’s data periodically to see if those "Blue to Red" shifts are becoming permanent registrations.
- Look at Local Turnout: If you're wondering if Democrats can ever win again, don't look at the candidates. Look at the turnout percentages in Cleveland and Cincinnati. If those don't go up, the results won't change.
The ohio election results 2024 senate race wasn't just another election. It was the end of an era. Sherrod Brown was the last of the old-school Ohio Democrats, and his departure marks a permanent shift in how the state functions on the national stage.