An off-the-cuff comment about reproductive rights by Republican Bernie Moreno in Ohio's tight Senate race has put abortion at the center of debate in the most expensive Senate campaign this year, per the AP. Moreno insists he was joking after cellphone video surfaced of him criticizing women whose votes are driven by concerns about government involvement in abortion decisions.
- "Sadly, by the way, there's a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, 'Listen, abortion is it,'" Moreno said at a town hall in Warren County on Sept. 20. "'If I can't have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.' OK. It's a little crazy, by the way, but—especially for women who are like past 50, I'm thinking to myself, 'I don't think that's an issue for you.'"
Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown and his allies pounced on the comment, which went to the heart of the Democrat's bid for a fourth term representing the Republican-leaning state. A woman featured in one TV ad wondered why, if a 50-year-old woman doesn't have standing to feel strongly about abortion, a 57-year-old man—that's Moreno's age—running for Senate would. Even fellow Republican Nikki Haley, the former presidential candidate, criticized Moreno as #ToneDeaf. "Are you trying to lose the election? Asking for a friend," she quipped on X.
Brown has made access to abortion a priority, and Moreno's comment has shifted attention away from the economy and immigration, issues the Republican and his party would rather talk about. Moreno, a wealthy Cleveland businessman endorsed by Donald Trump, was undeterred by the controversy that ensued after his abortion comments surfaced. His campaign said the comment was made tongue in cheek, and that Brown and Harris are the ones disrespecting women.
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"Bernie's view is that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime, and our open southern border as male voters do, and it's disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media constantly treat all women as if they're automatically single-issue voters on abortion who don't have other concerns that they vote on," spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said in a statement. Ad spending topped $400 million in early October, making the Senate race the most expensive in the country so far, according to data from AdImpact.
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