Businessman Moreno backed by Trump ally in Senate bid
COLUMBUS — Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno’s likely bid for the U.S. Senate has the backing of a close Trump ally with a direct line to the former president, a development that shows the fluidity of the early stages of the 2022 Senate primary in Ohio as multiple potential candidates angle for the former president’s support.
Ric Grenell, who held multiple high-profile positions in the Trump White House including acting Director of National Intelligence, has told people in Ohio that he is supporting Moreno, a longtime GOP donor who has never before sought elected office. Grenell in recent weeks also has made calls gauging the viability of former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken, a Senate candidate considered a top candidate to possibly eventually get a former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Moreno and Grenell met each other through the Cuyahoga County Republican Party, which brought in Grenell, who is gay, following the 2012 election as part of an initiative to expand party outreach to LGBT voters and other groups that traditionally have not been part of the Republican tent. Grenell is close to Trump’s inner circle of advisers, and had dinner with the former president at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last weekend, Politico reported, as Grenell considers a possible bid for governor of California.
Moreno hasn’t commented on his Senate plans. But he recently quit his position on the MetroHealth hospital board, writing in a resignation letter that he was doing so as he weighed his political future. He is putting together a campaign staff, and other candidates in the race expect him to make a decision soon. He has another connection with Trump World – his daughter, Emily, worked in the Trump campaign’s field operation during the 2020 campaign.
Moreno is not considered an early top-tier candidate in the Republican primary to replace outgoing Sen. Rob Portman, who announced in January that he will not seek re-election. But with an avenue to communicate with Trump, and a nonconventional story as a Columbian immigrant and successful businessman, he should have the opportunity to make his case directly to the former president. An endorsement from Trump has been coveted by Republican candidates, despite the former president’s damaged standing among some top Republican officeholders following the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January, and is expected to have major sway with voters in the May 2022 Republican primary.
The early days of Ohio’s Senate primary have seen the two declared candidates – Timken and former State Treasurer Josh Mandel – try to tie themselves as closely as Trump to possible, making a play for the former president’s supporters and Trump himself. Neither candidate has been seen as strong enough to clear the field, leading candidates like Moreno, Cleveland-area businessman Mike Gibbons, U.S. Reps. Bill Johnson, Steve Stivers and Warren Davidson, former Rep. Jim Renacci, Cincinnati entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and author J.D. Vance to all consider making a bid. Some Trump advisers have tried to convince Rep. Jim Jordan to run, but Jordan has taken his name out of consideration.
After Jordan, Timken had been considered the most likely candidate to get Trump’s endorsement, even though she’s never sought elected office before, given her close political ties to Trump.
Trump personally helped install Timken as party leader in January 2017. She resigned last month to focus on her Senate bid and was replaced by Bob Paduchik, an Ohio Republican operative who is a top political ally of Trump.
She has spoken with Trump personally since then about her Senate bid, sources said.
But Axios reported Monday that Trump was talked out of making an early endorsement in the race. An Ohio Republican source described the report as “100% accurate.”
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a former Michigan Republican Party chairwoman who has worked closely with Timken, spoke positively of Timken to Trump during a meeting at Mar-aLago, Axios reported.
But other advisers, including Donald Trump Jr., urged Trump to wait and let the race develop before weighing in, Axios reported.
During the meeting in Florida, Trump asked McDaniel whether Timken was “loyal” to him, Axios reported.
Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, said Monday the president’s advisers are trying to set up a formal process for prospective candidates to screen for Trump’s endorsement.
They also want to see candidates demonstrate their viability before Trump decides to back someone. One Ohio Republican said it could be months before Trump decides whether to weigh in, although Trump is famously impulsive.
“There will be some place where he gets involved, but in many cases it’s way too early…We want candidates to form their own campaigns, get a good structure, show they can raise some money,” Miller said during an interview on NewsMax, the proTrump TV network. “They need to win with the help of President Trump, not simply because of President Trump. We want to make sure these campaigns can stand on their own legs.”