MANSFIELD — Matt Dolan said Monday he is the only Republican candidate U.S. Senate candidate in Ohio who can beat Sherrod Brown.
But to earn the chance in November to take on the Mansfield native, the current state senator from Cuyahoga County has to beat two other GOP candidates in March, one of whom has been endorsed by former President Trump.
After his remarks during the Richland County Republican Party luncheon, Dolan admitted he finds it ironic that Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno landed the support of Trump, who carried Ohio by wide margins in 2016 and 2020 and is the likely party nominee in 2024.
“I’m the one talking about Trump’s policies more than (Moreno and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose). I talk about the (southern) border, I talk about the Abraham Accords, I talk about domestic energy and oil production … the things Trump did in office that we got to get back to,” the 58-year-old Dolan said.
Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians, said his campaign isn’t impacted by not getting the endorsement of Trump, whose backing helped J.D. Vance win the Ohio Senate race in 2022.
“I knew going in that I was going to be running against a Trump-endorsed candidate, so it didn’t change anything I am doing. I’m about Ohio. I’m about Ohioans. My path to victory is to make sure Ohioans come out and understand that my record of conservatism has helped them,” said Dolan, serving now as the chairman of the Ohio Senate finance committee.
The race has gained national attention because Republicans need to flip two seats to guarantee Senate control in 2025, regardless of the outcome of the presidential race.
Brown and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana) are two of the three Democrats up for re-election in states Trump carried in 2016 and 2020. The third is Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has announced he will not seek re-election to the Senate.
Dolan, who finished third in the party primary in 2022 to replace outing Republican Rob Portman, told local GOP supporters that Moreno and LaRose cannot beat the 71-year-old Brown, who is seeking a fourth, six-year term in the Senate.
He said Ohio has 88 counties and that 72 of those counties will vote Republican in November. The key, he said, is earning votes in the 16 other counties that are traditional Democratic Party strongholds.
“A Republican is not going to the U.S. Senate unless they can compete and win in those (16) counties. That’s what I can do,” said Dolan, who served three terms in the Ohio House before being elected to the state senate.
He cited Cuyahoga County, now the second most populous county in the state behind Franklin County. He said Brown received 72.5 percent of the votes in Cuyahoga County in 2018.
“I outperformed President Trump by 11 points (in Cuyahoga County),” said Dolan, who like Moreno, has poured millions of dollars into his own campaign.
“I can cut right into Brown’s voters. I can present to Cuyahoga County voters and Franklin County voters (and voters in the other 14 Democratic counties) a conservative agenda that has helped Ohio (and) that is appealing to that independent voter who wants to vote Republican because that independent voter will learn from me the policies I have fought for to make your life better.”
Dolan said he is proud of his pro-life record, but also said he voted against the so-called heartbeat bill in 2019 because it allowed for no exceptions.
“Every pro-life survey I have filled out in my public service, I have said I am for exceptions. Now you can agree or disagree with that, but I have been consistent,” Dolan said.
“That is going to be helpful in 2024 because (Democrats) want to make this (election) about abortion. My stance on abortion is more consistent with the independent voters throughout Ohio.
“Sherrod Brown is in favor of late-term abortion. Brown’s position will make him the extreme (candidate) in November.
He said LaRose has said a ban after six weeks of pregnancy should be national and that Moreno has said he accepts no exceptions with regards to a ban on abortions.
“Now they are both backtracking, but guess what? It’s on tape and Sherrod Brown’s going to run that on loop over the course of the election,” Dolan said.
“This is the year we are going to end Sherrod Brown’s political career, the one that started right here,” he said.
Dolan was introduced by state Sen. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario), who praised his work in Columbus.
“It’s been a pleasure working with him. He is a hard worker. He has a breadth of policy knowledge that’s quite unmatched,” Romanchuk said.
Dolan began his public career as an assistant state attorney attorney general and later served as chief assistant prosecutor in Geauga County.
His private sector experience includes being a partner at the law firm in his hometown of Chardon, as well as vice president of 7th Avenue Management and part of the ownership group of the Guardians.
He has also worked as an adjunct professor at the Case Western Reserve School of Law and Kent State University’s Geauga Campus.