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Columbus, OH — Today, Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Reeves Oyster released the following statement on Bernie Moreno entering what has been called ​​a “brewing 2024 slugfest” and potentially “one of the messiest and most expensive” Republican primaries in the country. 
 
“The Republican ‘slugfest’ for Ohio’s Senate seat is getting more crowded, chaotic and messy by the day. With a year of nasty mud-slinging ahead, it’s clear that whoever emerges from this primary will be bruised, battered, and out-of-touch with Ohioans’ values.”
 
Here’s what they’re saying about the “brewing 2024 slugfest” for Ohio’s senate seat:
 
WVXU Analysis: Ohio’s 2024 Senate primary is shaping up to be a repeat of 2022

• ​​The 2024 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate nomination, in which the winner will face the difficult task of knocking off Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown, is beginning to remind some of us of the 2022 Senate primary, one of the nastiest, ugliest on record. It ended up producing J.D. Vance as the GOP nominee and eventual winner of now-retired Sen. Rob Portman’s seat.
  
  
• The 2024 version has some striking similarities: a growing field of actual and potential candidates that could rival the seven-member scrum of 2022; a potentially nasty primary season, with the candidates sniping at each other on a daily basis; and millions of dark money “independent expenditures” pouring into the state with dubious attack ads.
  

NBC: Another bruising Senate race brews in Ohio as Republicans target Sherrod Brown

• One nasty and expensive Ohio Senate election had barely finished last week before Republicans turned their focus to what could be an even bigger slugfest in 2024: the race to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown, the only Democrat who has consistently won statewide elections here over the last 40 years.
  
  
• The 2024 race, meanwhile, could be even nastier and more expensive than the one Vance survived. 

NBC: “The Ohio contest is expected to be one of the nastiest and most expensive in the country next year…”

• The race to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, could soon be crowded, with at least three prominent Republicans weighing whether to enter a primary field that Matt Dolan, a wealthy state lawmaker, has had to himself for more than two months.
  
  
• The Ohio contest is expected to be one of the nastiest and most expensive in the country next year as both parties battle for control of the Senate. Brown, the only Democrat in Ohio who has had consistent success in statewide elections, is seen as one of the most vulnerable Senate incumbents, along with Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin, W.Va., and Jon Tester, Mont.
  
  

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Columbus, OH – Today, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement after a grand jury refused to charge any of the Akron police officers involved in the shooting of Jayland Walker. 

“Our hearts go out to Jayland Walker’s family and loved ones today. No one should ever have to endure the pain of losing someone they love in such tragic circumstances. As many Ohioans gather to protest today’s decision, we urge them to take every precaution possible to keep themselves and the broader community safe and to heed the calls of Mr. Walker’s family to remain peaceful. Ohio Democrats will continue our work to create fairer, safer and more just communities for all Ohioans who call our state home,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

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Columbus, OH – Today, Cleveland.com reported that of the $3.3 million Matt Dolan raised for his Senate race in the first quarter of 2023, $3 million of it – or 91% – came from Dolan’s own coffers. Dolan only raised an abysmal $303,000 through donations and gave himself $3,000,000. 
 
“Matt Dolan may be trying to buy Ohio’s Senate seat, but even his millions cannot save him from what is shaping up to be one of the messiest, nastiest primaries in the country,” said Reeves Oyster, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 
 
With Bernie Moreno expected to officially announce his candidacy next week, the primary for Ohio’s Senate seat – which has already been described as a “brewing 2024 slugfest” and potentially “one of the messiest and most expensive” Republican primaries in the country – is getting messier by the day. Dolan’s willingness to spend millions of his family’s riches to impress Mitch McConnell and national Republicans is another example of how expensive and nasty this GOP primary will get. 
 
Read more from Cleveland.com here and below: 

• Next year’s U.S. Senate race in Ohio is shaping up to be a brutally expensive fight, if early financial numbers released Friday by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and potential Republican rival Matt Dolan are any indication.
  
  
• Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, raised more than $3.5 million in the first three months of 2023, according to campaign manager Rachel Petri. That’s the most any candidate in Ohio history has collected during the first quarter of the year prior to an election year, she said.
  
  
• Dolan, a state senator from Chagrin Falls who was recently joined in the GOP primary by Cleveland car dealer Bernie Moreno, raised about $303,000 during the first quarter of 2023, according to campaign manager Kathi Paroska.
  
  
• However, Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, put about $3 million of his own money into his campaign fund, giving him $3,301,380 cash on hand as of the end of last month, according to Paroska.
  
  

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Columbus, OH – Today, Ron DeSantis’s visit to Ohio is putting Republicans in a tough spot. As Republican politicians in Ohio stumble all over themselves to embrace the most extreme wings of their party, Ron DeSantis’s visit to the Buckeye State further exposes the deep divides in the Ohio Republican Party. 

As much as GOP politicians in Ohio want to ignore DeSantis’s visit and avoid taking sides in the increasingly nasty Republican presidential primary, voters deserve to know where they stand. 

“Ron DeSantis’s record matches what so many of the Republican candidates running here in Ohio want to achieve. While Ohio Democrats are fighting for the Dignity of Work, Republicans in Ohio – and across the country – are fighting to strip workers of their dignity.  But Ohio Democrats are going to fight like hell to make sure none of the GOP extremists running for higher office are successful,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

Here are five questions Ohio Republicans running for higher office need to answer about DeSantis’s visit to Ohio: 

1. Are you supporting Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump or another extreme Republican in the presidential primary?
    
2. Do you agree with DeSantis’s record of supporting cuts to Medicare and Social Security? 
   
   
3. Do you agree with DeSantis’s support of a constitutional abortion ban that would ban abortion nationwide? 
   
   
4. DeSantis strongly opposes Medicaid expansion and has made Florida one of only 10 states in the country not to do so. Medicaid expansion has helped cover nearly a million people in Ohio – do you agree with DeSantis’s opposition?
   
   
5. Do you echo DeSantis’s call to defund federal law enforcement, including the Department of Justice and FBI?

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Columbus, OH — Matt Dolan’s ears must have been burning yesterday, because hosts on WTVN’s conservative Mark Blazor Show did not mince words while criticizing his campaign for Ohio’s Senate seat:

• HOST: “Matt Dolan is giving me every indication, you know, he’s not big on Donald Trump, he’s pushed back against Trump.”

• HOST: “He, you know, his [family], you know, they own the Indians and they capitulated to the woke mob and changed it to the Guardians… so that tells me everything you need to know.”

• HOST: “He’s in with the old guard…the Old Country Club, establishment guard of the Republican Ohio GOP and he’s very good at that.”

• HOST: “If you remember, he flooded the airwaves towards the end in there with ads in the primary that J.D. was you know, fortunately, J.D. was able to, you know, win and win handily. But I think he finished, you know, second or third in that race, which was kind of – uh – that scared me.”

• HOST: “I don’t know now how you can call anybody a front runner…”

This isn’t the first time Dolan has felt the heat from the GOP. Opponents have described him as a “career politician,” said he is “running in the wrong primary,” and slammed him for refusing to support Donald Trump – going so far as to say it should be “disqualifying.” 
 
With news that Bernie Moreno plans to officially enter the Republican primary race next week – which has already been called “one of the messiest and most expensive” and “bruising” battles in the country – it’s clear this primary is heating up. 

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