Trump-endorsed Bernie Moreno wins Ohio primary setting up race that could swing Senate make-up: Latest

Following former car salesman Bernie Moreno’s victory in Ohio, John Bowden writes:

“Bernie Moreno’s campaign just pulled off a victory with a last-minute boost from Donald Trump, who visited the state on Saturday and helped win many of the race’s undecided voters — who numbered as high as four in ten voters in some polling in the final week — to his chosen candidate’s cause.

“Republicans are now set to run an untested political novice against a three-term senator with national name recognition in one of the most important races set to determine the makeup of the Senate.”

Bernie Moreno, a former luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur, scooped victory in the Ohio senate race despite weathering controversy late in his campaign.

The Associated Press reported last week that in 2008, someone with access to Mr Moreno’s work email account created a profile on an adult website seeking “Men for 1-on-1 sex.” The AP could not definitively confirm that it was created by Mr Moreno himself.

Mr Moreno’s lawyer said a former intern created the account and provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as “part of a juvenile prank.”Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month, sparking frustration among senior Republican operatives about Mr Moreno’s potential vulnerability in a general election, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter.

They requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Mr Trump and his allies.

Mr Moreno, a native of Bogota, Colombia, who partially funded his own campaign, rode to victory after casting himself as a political outsider, who — like the former president — would go to Washington to shake things up. He and allied political action committees pilloried his GOP rivals Matt Dolan and Frank LaRose as “career politicians.”

He built his fortune in Cleveland in luxury auto sales and blockchain technology.

A car dealership owner is the Republican nominee for US Senate in Ohio, having won Tuesday’s primary election against an incumbent state senator and the Buckeye State’s elections chief.

Bernie Moreno was declared the race’s victor around 8.35 pm with 41 per cent of the vote.

Read the full story from John Bowden here:

A further special general election will be held in California in May after no candidate secured enough votes to take former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s congressional seat.

Republican Vince Fong, a California state assemblyman and former aide to Mr McCarthy, advanced to the runoff race for the 20th congressional district seat on Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press.

As of 3am ET on Wednesday morning, it was unclear which other candidate will join him in May.

Mr Fong has secured 40.8 per cent of the vote with 84 per cent of votes counted. County sheriff Mike Boudreaux, his most competitive challenger, is second with 26.2 per cent, followed by Marisa Wood with 23.1 per cent and Kyle Kirkland with 5.2 per cent.

The Associated Press has called the Florida primary in favour of Donald Trump.

The former president, himself a Florida voter, cast his ballot at a recreation center in Palm Beach on Tuesday and told reporters, “I voted for Donald Trump.”

Former Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson has firmly stated he will not endorse Donald Trump as the nominee for his party, saying Mr Trump has put his ego “above the common good”.

The former Arkansas governor said that the Republican nominee had redefined the party “in his image” and that meant traditional GOP values had been lost.

A convicted felon and notorious fraudster interviewed by House investigators as part of the Republican-led impeachment probe into President Joe Biden sought a presidential pardon during the waning days of the Trump administration and refused to rule out asking for one if Mr Trump is returned to office.

The Republican witness, Jason Galanis, is scheduled to give evidence from a federal prison by remote video link on Wednesday when House Republicans convene a public hearing with several former business associates of Mr Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Read the full story from Andrew Feinberg here:

Conservatives revolted as Congress came to a bipartisan agreement to avoid a government shutdown.

Read the full story here:

An attorney for Devon Archer, a former associate of Hunter Biden, cited a “patently unreasonable” amount of time to prepare for the hearing when declining to appear, ABC News reports. Matthew Schwartz, his lawyer, said the committee asked them in a Friday “end-of-day email” if he would appear on Wednesday, per ABC News.

Katie Hawkinson has the story:

Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have won their respective primaries in Arizona.

The Associated Press called the results for both men, shortly after 8pm local time.

The respective victories give both the president and former president a clean sweep in the state primaries held on Tuesday in Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and now Arizona.