Trump-backed Bernie Moreno wins the Republican Ohio Senate primary setting up competitive race against Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in November

Trump-backed Bernie Moreno has won the competitive Republican Ohio Senate primary after an three-way contest that took an ugly turn and served as a proxy contest between the Trump MAGA wing of the Republican party versus the establishment. 

With more than 70 percent of the vote counted Tuesday night, Moreno was up double-digits with nearly 50 percent of the vote. State Senator Matt Dolan was in second place with just under 33 percent.

Moreno will now take on the Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in what is expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in the country.

Speaking at his election night watch party Tuesday night, Moreno said 'we have an opportunity now to retire the old commie and send him to a retirement home and then save this country.' 

Republicans see Ohio, which has become increasingly red, as a top priority in their path to retake the Senate majority from Democrats come November.

Democrats currently have a one seat advantage in the Senate and an unfavorable map with several Democrats up for reelection in red states.

The three-way GOP primary also included Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose who had less than 18 percent of the vote.

Bernie Moreno celebrated his Republican Ohio Senate primary Tuesday night where he called for Republicans to unite as a party to 'get rid of Sherrod Brown'

Moreno, who owned car dealerships, celebrated with is wife Bridget after winning the primary

Bernie Moreno with former President Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance at a rally on Saturday where Trump praised Moreno as the 'America first' candidate

While the race proved to be tight between Moreno and Dolan, Moreno had an edge on his opponents with the endorsement of Trump who announced he was backing the Ohio businessman late last year.

The race served as a test of Trump's endorsement power. He traveled to Ohio for a rally on Saturday in a final effort to help boost Moreno across the finish line. During the event he praised Moreno as an 'America first' candidate.

Moreno also had the backing of close-Trump allies, Ohio Senator JD Vance and Arizona GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem who all campaigned for Moreno in the final days of the primary.

Tuesday night, Moreno thanked Trump and Vance for their support in the primary and said he wore the Trump endorsement as a 'badge of honor.'

Moreno, an immigrant from Colombia, has called for changing the immigration laws on asylum and deporting all immigrants in the country illegally. He does not support the bipartisan Senate border deal that was tanked by Republicans. He also does not support more funding for Ukraine

Moreno (second from right with wife Bridget) has the lead in the final poll before Ohio voted in the contested primary

Meanwhile, Dolan had the support of Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine and former Senator Rob Portman. He was able to keep the race competitive up until the very end thanks to putting millions of dollars of his own money into his bid.

He loaned his Senate campaign at least $9 million. His family owns the Cleveland Guardians Major League Baseball team. Each of his parents each gave at least $1 million to the super PAC supporting Dolan, federal election filings show.

Moreno, who who owned car dealerships, also loaned his campaign at least $4.2 million for his Senate bid. 

Exit polling from CNN showed only one-third of Republican Ohio primary voters acknowledged President Biden's 2020 win as legitimate. But there was a stark difference: the majority of Moreno voters believed Biden's win was not legitimate while the majority of Dolan voters said it was. 

Trailing in a distant third place was LaRose who ran as a tested conservative and would have been the first Special Forces soldier to serve in the Senate.

Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan speaking with reporters after conceding the primary to Moreno

Dolan was endorsed by Ohio GOP Governor Mike DeWine who said he was the best candidate to take on Sen. Brown in November

Secretary of State Frank LaRose at a campaign stop on March 18. LaRose trailed Moreno and Dolan in polls ahead of the Republican Ohio Senate primary

After the race was called, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Senator Steve Daines issued a statement saying Moreno is a 'committed conservative who will unite Republicans to put America first, fight for President Trump’s agenda, and stand up for Ohio in the Senate.' 

Daines called Moreno a political outsider and offered his 'full endorsement.'

Democrats had signaled they would like Brown to go up against Moreno in the general election.

Last week, the Duty and Country PAC which is largely funded through the Senate Majority PAC that works to help elect Democrats, spent at east $2.7 million in ad reservations for an ad propping up Moreno ahead of the primary.

It was one of several instances where Democrats have meddled in GOP primaries in recent years to help get the candidate they think they have a better chance of beating in November.

But in the case of Ohio during a presidential election year, this has the potential to backfire.

Republicans down ballot could benefit from having Trump at the top of the ticket in November in a state like Ohio where voters backed the ex-president by eight points over Biden in 2020 even as Biden won the presidential race.

Moreno embraced running as a 'MAGA' Republican and took some similar positions to Trump. 

Immigration was a top issue in the GOP primary. Moreno, an immigrant from Colombia, rejected the bipartisan Senate border deal on the campaign trail.

As Congress grapples with a supplemental aid package to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, he also called for no more U.S. money going to Ukraine as it continues its fight against Russia more than two years after Russia invaded.

Moreno has also called for getting rid of the Education Department.  

Democrats have also seized on Republicans' positions in the primary on abortion and health care, two issues that have motivated Democrats and moderates in recent elections. 

Moreno signaled support for some federal abortion restrictions and an openness to repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown is running for a fourth term. He was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and is chair of the Senate Banking Committee

Ohio voters casting ballots in Columbus on Tuesday. Voters also participated in Ohio's presidential primaries. Trump won the Republican primary. Biden won the Democratic Ohio primary

Senator Brown did not face a primary challenger. He is one of the last Democrats elected to statewide office in Ohio. 

Republicans control the offices of the governor, secretary of state, attorney general and both chambers of the state legislature. 

Brown, who serves as chair on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, won his first Senate election in 2006 by double-digits and was then re-elected in 2012 and 2018. In 2018, he won reelection by more than 300,000 votes as Democrats saw victories across the country in the backlash to the then-President Trump.

Following Moreno's win, Brown released a statement saying he has always stood by Ohioans. 

'The choice ahead of Ohio is clear: Bernie Moreno has spent his career and campaign putting himself first and would do the same if elected,' Brown said. 'Elections come down to whose side you’re on, and I’ll always work for Ohio – from standing up to special interests taking advantage of Ohio workers and corporations raising costs for families to making sure our veterans get the healthcare they earned.'

The Ohio Senate race is expected to be one of the most expensive races of the 2024 general election cycle.

Already, more than $143 million in future ads have been placed for the fall including $77 million by Republican and $66 million by Democratic groups, according to tracking by AdImpact.

That far surpasses the amount of money spent in the 2022 Ohio Senate race when $106 million was spent on ads in the general election and in 2018, when just over $16 million was spent on ads in the general election race.