'They can't beat Sherrod Brown': Matt Dolan says he's the best shot to win the US Senate

Matt Dolan believes he is the only Republican candidate for senator who has not sabotaged his party's chance at winning this year's U.S. Senate race in Ohio.

"My opponents have tried to win the primary by taking positions that will not fly in the general election," he told a room of GOP voters Monday during a visit to Mansfield.

Dolan, a state senator from Chagrin Falls, is running against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno.

The winner of the Republican primary will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat.

The primary is scheduled for March 19, and the general election will take place Nov. 5.

'Sherrod Brown wants to make this race about abortion'

Dolan told the Richland County voters that he opposed Ohio's ban on most abortions after six weeks because it did not include exceptions for rape or incest.

It's a position on reproductive rights that he said he always has held and always will hold.

"I am for exceptions," Dolan said. "You can agree or disagree with that, but I have been consistent in my votes. ... I do not change my position."

It's a discussion he said will come up an untold number of times over the next 11 months.

"We know what the playbook is," Dolan said. "We know Sherrod Brown wants to make this race about abortion."

'It's on tape and Sherrod Brown's gonna run that on loop'

He believes his position is more mainstream than those of any of his opponents, Republican or Democrat.

"Frank LaRose has said the six-week ban should be a national ban. Bernie Moreno has said, 'No exceptions,'" Dolan said. "They're both backtracking on that, but guess what? It's on tape and Sherrod Brown's gonna run that on loop over the course of the election."

He said that just as his fellow Republicans have taken a position too far one way, the incumbent is entrenched equally as far the other direction.

"Sherrod Brown is for late-term abortion; we'll make him extreme," Dolan said. "My stance on abortion is more consistent with the independent voters throughout Ohio."

'A conservative agenda that has helped Ohio'

Dolan said he considers Moreno and LaRose as friends and that he agrees with most of what they say, but he doesn't think they can win in November.

"They're both good men, but I'm telling you, they can't beat Sherrod Brown," Dolan said.

The proof, he said, was in the numbers. Of Ohio's 88 counties, Dolan said Republicans can count on 72 to vote for their U.S. Senate candidate in November.

"Sherrod Brown only wins 16 of the 88 counties and he wins the state of Ohio," Dolan said. "Republicans are not going to win the U.S. Senate unless they can compete and win in those 16 counties."

He said he believes he will carry the Republican vote throughout the state and will eat into the support Democrats enjoy in the more populated counties.

"I can present a conservative agenda that has helped Ohio that is appealing to that independent voter who wants to vote Republican," Dolan said. "That independent voter will learn from me that the policies that I have fought for make your life better; the policy that Sherrod Brown has fought for will make your life weaker and more vulnerable. We can win it when I win in those 16 counties."

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Matt Dolan tells Mansfield OH GOP his abortion stance can win Senate