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The Guardian: Moreno “Has Made Dubious Claims In His Campaign”

Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno has relied on “dubious” claims that he came to the United States from Colombia to “escape” socialism to “form a central part of [his] campaign message,” but new reporting today finds that Moreno is lying and his statements “do not withstand historical scrutiny.”

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The Guardian: Bernie Moreno says he fled socialism in Colombia for the US in 1971. What does history say?

Martin Pengelly 

March 28, 2024

• Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Ohio who expected to mount a stern challenge to Sherrod Brown, the incumbent leftwing Democrat, says his family fled socialism when they came to the US from Colombia in 1971, when he was four years old.

• Though such statements formed a central part of Moreno’s campaign message on his way to securing the Republican nomination…they do not withstand historical scrutiny.

• In an interview in 2020, about his success as a car dealer in Ohio, Moreno described himself as “somebody who moved to this country a long time ago to escape what happens in most South American countries, which is socialism and the absolute prison of those ideas”.

• In 2021, as Moreno moved into national politics with a first run for a Senate nomination, the Cleveland Plain Dealer said he “says he came to the United States as a child with his mother and siblings to flee socialism in their native Colombia. He believes that same ideology is rising in the United States, and he wants to fight back.”

• But when Moreno was born, on 14 February 1967, Colombia was nine years into the 16-year period of National Front government, in which conservative and liberal parties alternated being in power as a way to avoid violence between the two factions.

• Moreno, however, has described an early childhood far removed from such worries.

• By his own description, his father was secretary of health under Misael Pastrana, a conservative and the last National Front president between 1970 and 1974.

• “We had a very, very, very, very incredible lifestyle in Colombia,” Moreno said in 2019, at a business event in Cleveland, adding that his mother moved the family to the US – initially against his father’s wishes – because she “didn’t want us to be raised as pampered indoor cats.”

• In 2021, writing in the Toledo Blade, he said: “I was born in South America, surrounded by socialist ideology.”

• The same year, Moreno told the Landscape, a Cleveland podcast: “I think the [US is] going off [in] a very dangerous direction. It’s a direction I recognise. I grew up surrounded by socialist ideology, whether it’s Venezuela or Cuba [or] now Peru, and I know where this movie ends.”

• And in a campaign ad, also from 2021, Moreno said: “I came from a country surrounded by the ideology of radicals like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara…”

• Such claims also shake under scrutiny.

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New Report Finds Moreno’s Claims That He Built His Business “All On His Own” Just Aren’t True

Columbus, OH – New reporting today shows Bernie Moreno is lying about his business origin story by claiming he built his car dealership business “all on his own” and going out of his way to say he did so without “handouts.” In reality, Moreno received an insider and special deal on his first dealership after Mercedes-Benz strong-armed the owner into selling it to him at a “dramatically reduced price.” 

Questions Bernie Moreno needs to answer about lying about his business origin story:

1. Why did you claim you never took handouts when new reporting shows you got your dealership at a steep discount?
2. Did your campaign refuse to provide information about the 2005 sale because it shows you are lying when you say you “didn’t take handouts” and will you make documents around the deal available?
3. Are there any other details about your time in business that you wish to clarify for the people of Ohio?

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As SCOTUS Begins Oral Arguments on Mifepristone Case, Ohioans Should Know Moreno Is “Absolute Pro-Life, No Exceptions”

Columbus, OH – As the Supreme Court begins oral arguments today on the abortion medication mifepristone, Ohioans should know that Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban without exceptions and would overturn the will of the majority of Ohioans who voted to protect reproductive rights last November.

“Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans who voted to protect reproductive rights last year. Moreno puts himself first, not Ohioans,” said ODP spokesperson Katie Smith. 

Reminder of Moreno’s on-the-record support for a national abortion ban: 

• Moreno supports a national abortion ban that would overturn the will of Ohioans. Moreno has said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” and that he is “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.”

• Moreno opposed Ohio’s November Issue 1, which enshrined reproductive rights into the state constitution and included protections for IVF. Moreno has called attacks on IVF a “manufactured issue” and opposes federal protections for IVF.

• Moreno celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which has led to attacks on women’s reproductive healthcare like access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Mifepristone is unavailable in drugstores in Ohio due to Ohio’s restrictive abortion laws, which Moreno supported through his opposition to Issue 1.

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Columbus, OH – Today, the Ohio Democratic Party went live with its application to serve as an either an at-large delegate or Party Leader/Elected Official Delegate (PLEO) to the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Any Ohio Democrat can apply to serve as an at-large delegate, while Democratic public and elected officials can apply to serve as a PLEO delegate. The Ohio Democratic Party Executive Committee will elect a total of 27 at-large delegates and 17 PLEO delegates. 

Ohio Democrats can visit ohiodems.org/convention to learn more about the process of running for DNC delegate and fill out and submit their declaration of candidacy forms for the 2024 convention. Applications are due by Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 4 pm. 

“Ohio Democrats are excited to head to Chicago next August, mark the progress we’ve made over the last four years and look ahead to the work that remains to move our state and country forward. We’re ready to elect a broad, diverse coalition of delegates to Chicago and show off our Ohio pride at the 2024 Democratic National Convention,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters. 

Ohio Democrats will send a total of 143 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. The convention will take place in Chicago from August 19 – 22, 2024. 

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Columbus, OH – Today, the Ohio Democratic Party submitted a public records request to the DeWine Administration seeking to clarify reports that Justice Joe Deters made a political deal to run against a sitting Democrat in order to secure his appointment to the Ohio Supreme Court. 

Deters, who never served as a judge prior to his appointment to the Court, is a close political and personal ally of the DeWine family. The public records request seeks any and all records from the Governor’s office pertaining to Deters’ appointment. 

• Read the public records request HERE 

“Joe Deters’ appointment to the Ohio Supreme Court never passed the smell test, and these latest revelations reek of dirty politics. Ohioans deserve to know if Deters is only sitting on the Supreme Court because Republicans are playing political games with the state’s highest court,” said Matt Keyes, spokesperson for the Ohio Democratic Party. 

Since his appointment to the Court, Deters has ruled on a number of cases that would be helpful to DeWine. Earlier this year, Deters ruled that taxpayers don’t deserve to know how much taxpayer money DeWine spent on his trip to the Super Bowl in 2022. 

When Deters was first appointed to the Court, the Cleveland.com editorial board wrote that he was a ‘mistaken choice’ for the Ohio Supreme Court. The editorial board pointed out that Deters has ‘zero judicial experience,’ that Deters enjoys a close, personal relationship with the Republican who appointed him and that there are ‘many conflicts and questions about Deters’ qualifications and past service.’

Deters has also faced criticism for refusing to recuse himself from a case his office oversaw when he served as Hamilton County Prosecutor. Time and again, Deters has demonstrated to Ohioans that he’s putting his own political interests over theirs.

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