Conservative outsider or 'shapeshifter?' Meet Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of profiles about the Republicans running in Ohio's U.S. Senate primary. Articles on state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose will publish at a later date.

You can read our story on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown's reelection bid here.

Once upon a time, Bernie Moreno said he would never run for political office.

"There are people who want to be in the military, who put the uniform on − God bless them times 100 − and I would never, ever do that. Just not built for that," Moreno said during a 2020 Up2 podcast interview. "And I'm also not built to be an elected official. But we do have a responsibility as good citizens to support candidates that do a good job because if not, then we give up the right to complain about it."

Fast forward to today: Moreno, a businessman who made his fortune in Cleveland, is running in a Republican U.S. Senate primary for the second time. He's vying against Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, for the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.

The primary is March 19.

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The same man who said he wasn't cut out for elected office presents himself as a political outsider in the mold of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance. Moreno has never served as a public official, and he says that's a feature of his campaign. Trump and Vance agree, as do a coalition of high-profile Republicans who lined up behind Moreno's campaign.

"I think sometimes the media and the left gets into this whole Trump thing, like, 'Are you a Trump person?'" Moreno said. "The reality is President Trump represents a movement, which is this idea that we've been ripped off for years. We have people in D.C. of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, that have gone down there and pillaged the country. They've been more concerned about other things than putting the interests of Americans first."

Moreno's critics contend he can't be believed, pointing to litigation he faced as a business owner and his changing positions on immigration, Trump and gun control. But the former president's endorsement propelled Vance to victory in the 2022 Senate primary − and observers say history could very well repeat itself.

"It's a very powerful endorsement," Vance said. "It matters a lot. Bernie still has to work to earn the voters' trust."

Immigrant turned Ohio business leader

Moreno immigrated to the United States from Colombia with his family just before his fifth birthday. In Colombia, he said, they enjoyed wealth stemming from his father's position as secretary of health − and Moreno's brother even had his own horse and stables. But his mother believed America could teach them the value of hard work and perseverance, so they left for a more modest life in South Florida.

As one of seven children, Moreno said he often talked to his dad about cars to get his attention. He remembers going car shopping with his father, who measured personal success by what make and model he could afford to buy. That got Moreno thinking about car dealerships, and he began working in the industry after studying at the University of Michigan.

Moreno spent several years at a car dealership in Boston, securing a promotion to serve as the company's vice president. In 2005, he purchased a struggling Mercedes-Benz dealership in the Cleveland suburbs and turned that business into a multistate franchise. His time in Boston − and the tech boom he witnessed there − later inspired Moreno to start a blockchain company that digitizes car titles.

"My net worth was negative many millions in May of 2005," Moreno said. "If I didn't succeed, my joke was that I was going to be a hell of a drive-thru salesman at the drive-thru McDonald's because it was either success or total, complete failure."

Moreno's career wasn't without speed bumps. He settled over a dozen lawsuits in Massachusetts over his employees' overtime pay, and a judge sanctioned him in one case for destroying reports that showed who clocked over 40 hours. Moreno has said the underlying payroll data was preserved.

But his business exploits also earned him accolades, board positions and even a Center for Sales Excellence named after him at Cleveland State University. In 2017, Moreno accepted a humanitarian award from the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio and used his remarks to tout the importance of inclusion.

"If you watch Fox News, switch over to MSNBC for a little while," he said during the speech. "It'll be good for you. If you watch MSNBC, you can handle a little Fox News. And if you don't watch cable TV at all, run for office – you're the smartest person here."

So, how did Moreno end up in a second U.S. Senate primary? He said he changed his mind about running for office during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing elected officials did nothing while the government encroached on people's lives.

In March 2020, he praised the actions of Gov. Mike DeWine and former health director Amy Acton, who were among the first state officials to enact COVID lockdowns. But he also criticized the economic impact of business closures and ignited a firestorm when he tweeted from a plane about reopening the country.

Moreno changed tune on gun control, immigration

Moreno, himself an immigrant, has made border security a hallmark of his campaign. He contends Brown and President Joe Biden represent a Democratic Party that's become too elitist. Inflation is still hurting Americans, he said, in part driven by an "assault on American energy." And he − and the people who back him − think Ohio needs a new face to shake things up.

"They see the statehouse sometimes as establishment," said Joe Statzer, executive director of the Butler County Republican Party, which endorsed Moreno. "Same old, same old. They want agents of change, and they want outsiders who they believe have the courage to make that change. Bernie definitely brings that message."

But Moreno's opponents often point to the businessman's past, suggesting voters are being sold a false bill of goods.

On the campaign trail, Moreno has said "lazy politicians" want to pass gun restrictions without addressing the root cause of violence. But he struck a different tone in 2019, saying background checks are reasonable to ensure someone with a firearm isn't a danger to themselves or others.

"What gun do you need to have 100 bullets in it?" Moreno said during the interview with Fortify Your Data. "That doesn’t mean I’m going to take your goddamn gun away, but do you really need 100 bullets? At one time? I mean, do you have that kind of ADD? ... And by the way, are you going to eat a deer that has 100 bullets in it?"

A Moreno spokesman said that's "unequivocally" not his position on guns today.

Like Vance, Moreno railed against Trump during the 2016 presidential primary. He called the people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 "morons," but contends a "two-tiered justice system" is punishing them more harshly than Black Lives Matter protesters. He previously supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and now says they should all be deported.

Moreno said his view on immigration changed after he studied the issue more closely and saw an "illegal immigration invasion."

"Bernie Moreno has been caught shredding court documents, deleting his liberal tweets and hiding legal settlements, all in an effort to obscure the fact that he's an ideological shapeshifter prone to blaming others for his own bad judgement," Dolan strategist Chris Maloney said. "Nominating Bernie would be a bad bet that will only pay off for Sherrod Brown."

Whether that argument resonates with voters remains to be seen. University of Cincinnati political scientist David Niven said the Trump endorsement is a powerful force in Ohio Republican primaries, and inconsistencies or legal troubles are unlikely to turn people off. Vance, for instance, was a huge Trump critic until he wasn't.

"Moreno presents himself well, but he is almost disadvantaged by how little he’ll need those skills in the primary," said Niven, who worked as a speechwriter for former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. "He's not getting the greatest test to prepare himself for Sherrod Brown."

To Moreno, his opponents represent an old Republican guard that's not equipped to deal with today's challenges.

"Frank (LaRose) likes to call me the used car salesman," Moreno said. "That is a perfect example of what's wrong with the way they think. They look down on the guy who sells used cars. Why are you on picking people that wake up every day, go to work to provide for their families? But that's the mentality."

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Who is Bernie Moreno? Meet the Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate