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Columbus, OH – With an already “bloody,” “bruising,” “messy,” and “expensive” knock-down-drag-out primary underway, the Ohio Senate Slugfest escalated further at tonight’s debate as Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan hurled attacks at one another and made it clear that none of them will fight for Ohioans. 

“In between every barb and insult lobbed at tonight’s debate, Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan made it clear that they have no interest in fighting for Ohioans or the issues most important to their daily lives,” said ODP spokesperson Katie Smith. “Whether it was doubling down on their support for a national abortion ban that would overrule the will of Ohioans, pledging to shut down the government despite the devastating consequences, or the fact that Bernie Moreno couldn’t run from his record of destroying key evidence to avoid paying his employees the overtime they were owed, Ohioans saw tonight that Moreno, LaRose, and Dolan won’t fight for anyone but themselves.”
 

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan would all overrule Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban despite Ohioans voting overwhelmingly in November to protect reproductive rights and overturn the state’s dangerous abortion ban.
 
The entire #OHSEN field would overrule Ohioans by voting for a national abortion ban in the Senate: 

• Bernie Moreno supports a national abortion ban and does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. At his campaign launch, Bernie Moreno said he is “unapologetically pro-life.”
   
• Frank LaRose supports a national abortion ban, opposes exceptions for rape or incest, and admitted he colluded with out-of-state special interests to try to ban abortion by rewriting the November ballot language to be intentionally misleading.
   
• Matt Dolan celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, calling it “exciting.” Dolan said defeating the November amendment was a priority and said he would support a national abortion ban.

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Columbus, OH – New reporting last week revealed that Bernie Moreno destroyed key evidence a judge had ordered him to keep to avoid paying his employees the overtime they deserved. After forcing his employees to sue him to get the pay they were entitled to, Moreno was found liable by a jury for wage theft and was forced by the Court to pay over $400,000 in damages – only then did he settle over a dozen lawsuits before launching his Senate bid. 
 
FACT: Moreno shredded key records containing information about his employees’ overtime hours – evidence he was legally required to retain and that he agreed to provide the court – because he knew the documents would prove he owed his workers. Moreno was sanctioned by a judge for destroying evidence. Key points from Business Insider:

• “From the beginning, Moreno was required to preserve all documents relevant to the case, and he specifically agreed to do so in January 2020…”
• “But during a May 2021 deposition for one of those wage theft cases, Moreno conceded that in late 2020, he had destroyed paper copies of monthly reports containing information about overtime hours worked by some employees…”
• “…Moreno admitted in a deposition to shredding documents containing information that was potentially relevant to the case, despite being instructed to preserve records — drawing a rebuke from a state judge.”
• “[T]he judge in that case, Justice Michael Ricciuti, chose to sanction him for destroying potential evidence…”

FACT:A jury found Moreno liable for wage theft and forced him to pay more than $400,000 in damages to his employees. Moreno ultimately settled 13 additional similar lawsuits in 2023, just months before launching his second Senate bid. Key points from Business Insider:

• “Ultimately, a jury found in August 2022 that Adem and another salesperson who joined the lawsuit had proven ‘by a preponderance of the evidence’ that they had worked overtime hours, and that his employers knew that.”
• “The judge later ordered Moreno to pay out a total of $416,160, including compensation for the overtime hours worked, damages, and legal fees, in November. In January 2023, Moreno settled 14 of the 16 related lawsuits, court records show. Just 3 months later in April 2023, Moreno launched his comeback bid for US Senate.”

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno called for a government shutdown despite the devastating consequences it would have on Ohioans. Moreno opposed the bipartisan stopgap spending plan in September and called to shut down the federal government, which would have forced tens of thousands of Ohioans to work without pay. With additional funding deadlines looming, Ohioans should know Moreno is more focused on scoring political points than fighting for them. 
 
What you need to know about how a government shutdown would impact Ohioans:

• Ohio small businesses would lose an estimated $4,627,400 in financing per business day. 
   
• A shutdown would negatively impact the economy, Ohio workers, and Ohio families – an estimated 6,800 active duty troops in Ohio would not receive pay and tens of thousands of civilian employees would either be furloughed or forced to work without pay. 
   
• Many Ohio families, including more than 93,000 Ohio children, would also lose their access to healthy food. 
   
• Ohioans receiving Social Security could be at risk for disruptions. 

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Columbus, OH – Bernie Moreno, Frank LaRose, and Matt Dolan don’t understand the issues facing working Ohioans because they’ve been more focused on using their massive fortunes, sweetheart deals, and shady loans to try to buy Ohio’s Senate seat. It’s clear the entire field is wealthy, out-of-touch, and won’t fight for Ohioans because they don’t understand the issues most important to their daily lives.

• Bernie Moreno wrote himself a $3 million check after he said it’s “not right” for wealthy people to “write a big fat check” and that he wouldn’t “take [his] personal wealth and buy a Senate seat.” But a $3 million check is chump change for Moreno,who is worth over a hundred million dollars with properties in Costa Rica, New York City, Washington, D.C., and the Florida Keys worth up to $24.7 million.
   
• Frank LaRose loaned himself $250,000 after claiming to be a “thousandaire” and mocking his opponents for their wealth – raising questions about LaRose’s shady finances.  LaRose also refused to file his required financial disclosure until weeks past the deadline and has continued to dodge questions about the “highly unusual” and “myster[ious]” six-figure loan. Now, LaRose is being bankrolled by out-of-state billionaire Richard Uihlein – who also funded LaRose’s August amendment to silence Ohioans and benefit special interests. 
   
• Matt Dolan has already loaned his campaign $7 million this cycle and is worth as much as $41 million. Dolan faced backlash from his opponents for bankrolling his campaign with a cheap loan at a “staggeringly low” interest rate of less than one percent – an example of “some of the financial gateways available to wealthy politicians but closed to most of the constituents they represent.”

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