U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance backs Bernie Moreno in GOP primary for 2024 Ohio Senate race

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance made a key endorsement Monday in Ohio's 2024 U.S. Senate race, even as the GOP primary field continues to take shape.

Vance, R-Ohio, said he's throwing his support behind Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno, who entered the race last month. Moreno is vying for the chance to take on U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in what will be one of the most watched races in the country.

State Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, is also seeking the Republican nomination.

"It’s time to turn the tides on the establishment insiders who sell out our country to special interests and elect more political outsiders like Bernie, who will always put America First in Washington, D.C.," Vance said. "I’m looking forward to having Bernie as a colleague in the U.S. Senate."

Moreno ran against Vance in the 2022 primary, but he dropped out after a meeting with former President Donald Trump. Both men are close allies of Trump, hold many of the same ideological views and cast themselves as outsiders who are willing to take on the political establishment.

Dolan, by contrast, emulates more traditional Republicans and has called for the party to move on from "campaigns of grievances" after the 2020 election.

"The career politicians and establishment insiders in both parties have failed us all, and just like J.D., I will be a fighter for Ohio’s workers and families against the corrupt special interests in the swamp," Moreno said.

Vance's nod doesn't carry the same weight as a Trump endorsement, but it does complicate a GOP primary that's far from settled. Secretary of State Frank LaRose and U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, are both considering Senate bids. Davidson, if he enters, will have the backing of the anti-tax group Club for Growth, which spent millions in past elections and recently had a falling out with Trump.

Davidson told Politico last month that he would "clearly be the conservative" in the race.

The junior senator is trying to avoid the same kind of bruising primary he experienced last year. After winning the nomination, Vance was low on cash and ultimately had to get a boost from national groups to compete with former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan's campaign coffers.

Democrats hope Republican infighting will give Brown an advantage in the general election.

"The politicians vying for Ohio’s Senate seat have wasted no time attacking one another, and the infighting will only get worse from here as candidates are forced to duke it out over new endorsements," Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Reeves Oyster said. "With months of mud-slinging ahead, it’s clear that whoever emerges from this primary will be bruised, battered, and out of step with Ohioans' values."

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.

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Senate race 2024: JD Vance endorses Bernie Moreno in GOP primary