A blitz of newsy and folksy ads from businessman Bernie Moreno, who is running in the Ohio GOP primary to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman, worked to vault him from last to third, according to internal polling released on Wednesday.
“We’re peaking right at the time we wanted to,” said adviser Kellyanne Conway in a call about the survey.
“I know you’re not accustomed to lots of pollsters telling you that their client is in third place. Their clients are always winning. They’re always on top,” she said. But the longtime pollster and former Trump White House counselor said Moreno’s sudden, one-month surge was important to highlight.
“Bernie has jumped to third place, and he has leap-frogged a lot of the so-called front runners,” she said.
In the survey, Moreno, born in Colombia and a huge Midwest Mercedes Benz dealer-turned-blockchain executive, sits at 10.2% among GOP likely voters, behind state party chief Jane Timken at 18.1% and front-runner Josh Mandel at 19.8%. Much-talked-about candidate J.D. Vance is at 9.5%.
Moreno, 54, describes himself as a pro-Trump conservative. He recently began running a series of ads to raise his name identification. The ads focus on illegal immigration, inflation, and election integrity.
Hoping to be the first U.S. senator born in South America, Moreno told Secrets that he has visited the border as recently as a week ago to educate himself on the problems the Biden administration has brought.
Describing horrible conditions he saw, he accused the president of bringing a “Hunger Games situation” to the border.
“These people are being dropped off in cities all over the Midwest. And, of course, we have compassion for the people, but the compassionate answers provide them with a robust legal immigration system and not this Hunger Game situation that Joe Biden put in place,” he said to Secrets.
“But my question is, what do those people do when they arrive in Indianapolis, Indiana, or Dayton, Ohio? What is the plan? They have no money, no housing, nowhere to go,” he said.
Moreno, who has met with former President Donald Trump, is eager for his endorsement. The former president hasn’t endorsed in the race yet.
Conway said that the poll shows Trump is very popular in Ohio and that an endorsement will matter greatly. She also said that the state appreciates the Trump model: an outsider ready to battle Washington and push an “America First” agenda.
“Bernie Moreno really matches the moment,” said Conway.
Challenger Timken seized on the polling to brag on her second-place position. In a statement, her campaign said, “We thank these outside polls for confirming what we already know — Ohio voters are clearly responding to Jane Timken’s strong record of leadership and authentic America First record.”
