Ohio Senate race: Cleveland car dealer turned tech executive Bernie Moreno launches bid

Jessie Balmert
Cincinnati Enquirer
Cleveland-area car dealer Bernie Moreno

COLUMBUS – Cleveland luxury car dealer turned blockchain executive Bernie Moreno jumped into the Ohio Senate race Tuesday, launching the longtime fundraiser's first political bid. 

Moreno, 54, joins what could become a crowded GOP primary to replace Sen. Rob Portman. Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel and former Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken have already announced bids.

Moreno was one of four Republican Senate hopefuls who attended a contentious Mar-a-Lago meeting with former President Donald Trump last month. Trump hasn't yet endorsed in the Ohio Senate race but Moreno would be a longshot to get that nod. 

“I would be honored to have Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Moreno said. “He’s the leader of the Republican party. He’s very popular in the Republican party. He’s very popular in Ohio.”

Moreno is pitching himself as an outsider, saying he will support term limits and won't accept money from corporate political action committees.

“There’s a lot of times when big corporations expect a quid pro quo," Moreno said in a Tuesday interview, adding that he will self-fund some of his campaign. "You donate money and then that candidate is beholden to you. I’m not going to be beholden to anybody.”

Moreno hits on key conservative phrases in his announcement video, saying Democrats are pushing socialism and encouraging cancel culture to silence conservatives. 

Moreno's immigrant story

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Moreno moved to the United States when he was five years old and became a U.S. citizen at 18 years old. 

Moreno says he sees the same socialist ideology from his youth infiltrating the Democratic party today. That was one reason he decided to run for the spot vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

"This is personal to me. My parents came here legally because they wanted us to see that in America, we could accomplish anything, but only in America," Moreno says in the video.

Moreno graduated from the University of Michigan and worked as the general manager of a Saturn store in Boston. 

In 2005, he purchased a struggling Mercedes-Benz dealership in North Olmsted, a Cleveland suburb. From there, he expanded to become the largest volume luxury dealer in the Midwest.

He comes from a prominent family. Moreno's brother, Luis Alberto Moreno, previously served as Colombia's Ambassador to the United States and president of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Ohio car dealer Bernie Moreno, 51, works with Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, left, to pay some state business taxes with Bitcoin in November.

Tech evangelist

Moreno is lesser-known to many in Ohio politics, especially outside of Cleveland. Once known for his car dealerships, Moreno now serves as chairman of a blockchain technology company named Ownum. Blockchain is a decentralized database system that links records together in secure blocks of information. 

Moreno and Mandel shared an interest in the new technology. While treasurer, Mandel launched a program to allow Ohioans to pay their taxes with the cryptocurrency bitcoin, but his predecessor dismantled the option.

Moreno knows he needs to introduce himself to large swaths of Republican voters across the state. 

"It's a marketing problem. I know a thing or two about marketing," Moreno said. "It's making sure you get your message out there."

Moreno is an active mostly Republican donor

Since 2016, Moreno has donated more than $96,000 mostly Republican parties and candidates, including Senate President Matt Huffman, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Gov. Mike DeWine. Moreno donated $1,000 to Democratic state treasurer candidate Rob Richardson in 2018.

Moreno was critical of shutting down the state during COVID-19, making local headlines for tweeting about flying during the pandemic. But Moreno is complimentary of how DeWine handled the health crisis.

"At the beginning, he maybe got a little bit of bad advice but he pivoted quickly," Moreno said. "I know one thing for sure: it's that every decision Mike DeWine made he did because he thought it was in the best interest of Ohio."