Bernie Moreno | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |
| United States Senator fromOhio | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2025 Serving with Jon Husted | |
| Preceded by | Sherrod Brown |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bernardo Moreno (1967-02-14)February 14, 1967 (age 59) Bogotá, Colombia |
| Citizenship |
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| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Bridget Moreno |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives |
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| Education | University of Michigan (BBA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | |
Bernardo Moreno (/məriːnoʊ/mər-EE-noh; born February 14, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2025 as theseniorUnited States senator fromOhio. He is a member of theRepublican Party.
Moreno was born inColombia to a family that soon immigrated to the United States, where he grew up inFlorida. After attending theUniversity of Michigan, he began a career in business. In 2005 he moved to Ohio, where he ran several car dealerships, mostly inGreater Cleveland, before becoming involved inblockchain companies in the late 2010s. He previously ran for Senate in2022, but withdrew before the Republican primary. In2024, Moreno defeated three-term incumbentDemocratic senatorSherrod Brown. He becameOhio's junior senator on January 3, 2025, and became Ohio's senior senator a week later, whenJD Vanceresigned from the Senate to becomevice president of the United States.
Moreno is the firstHispanic American senator from Ohio and one of the first twoColombian American U.S. senators, along withRuben Gallego ofArizona.
Moreno was born inBogotá,Colombia, on February 14, 1967.[1][2] His father, Bernardo Moreno Mejía, was a physician and held high-ranking positions in the Colombian government. When Moreno was five, the family moved toFort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was raised.[3] His father worked as a surgical assistant, and his mother was a real estate agent. Moreno became a U.S. citizen at age 18 and renounced his Colombian citizenship.[4][5]
Moreno attended theUniversity of Michigan, graduating with abachelor's degree inbusiness administration.[6] After it was publicized that hisCleveland Foundation biography incorrectly included aMaster of Business Administration degree, his Senate campaign blamed the error on "a staffer who made a mistake".[7][8]
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After college, Moreno worked atGeneral Motors.[9] At 26, he moved toMassachusetts[10] to become the general manager atThe Herb Chambers Companies, a car dealership for the General Motors divisionSaturn.[11]
He relocated to Ohio in 2005 and bought aMercedes-Benz dealership inNorth Olmsted nearCleveland.[12][13][14] Moreno was the president of the Collection Auto Group, a car dealership company.[15] By 2016, he owned more than a dozen dealerships, mostly located in Ohio.[16] In 2019, he began to sell a number of his dealerships to focus on his newblockchain-based technology company, Ownum.[17]
In 2018, Moreno established the Sales Center for Excellence atCleveland State University.[18] In 2019, Moreno was elected to the Cleveland Business Hall of Fame[19] inCleveland Magazine.[20]
Moreno was appointed to the board of trustees forthe MetroHealth System in October 2019 and served until he resigned in February 2021 to focus on seeking public office.[21][22]
In 2023, Moreno settled over a dozenwage theft lawsuits prior to launching his U.S. Senate campaign. He was ordered to pay over $400,000 to two former employees. He was rebuked by a state judge for shredding documents potentially related to the case.[23]
A March 2024 report found that Moreno had faced two lawsuits alleging gender and age-based discrimination; Moreno's campaign responded by saying both employees who sued him supported his Senate campaign.[24]
In April 2021, Moreno enteredthe race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to replace the retiring incumbentRob Portman.[25] On February 3, 2022, Moreno dropped out of the race, reportedly after meeting withDonald Trump.[26]
On April 10, 2023, Moreno filed paperwork to run for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat in the2024 election.[27] Donald Trump endorsed Moreno in December 2023.[28] Moreno won the Republican primary on March 19, 2024, defeatingMatt Dolan andFrank LaRose.[29] Moreno defeated incumbent SenatorSherrod Brown in the general election. During the general election campaign, thecrypto industry spent more than $40 million in support of Moreno's campaign.[30] Brown was considered adversarial to the crypto industry.[30]
In the run-up to the Republican Senate primary in March 2024, theAssociated Press reported that an account onAdult FriendFinder had been created in 2008 using Moreno's email address. The account solicited "men for 1-on-1 sex". The profile listed Moreno's date of birth, and geolocation data indicated that it was set up for use in a part of Fort Lauderdale where property records show Moreno's parents owned a home at the time.[1] In a statement Moreno's lawyer provided to the Associated Press, a former intern said he created the account and called it an "aborted prank".[31]
Moreno was sworn in on January 3, 2025, as a junior U.S. senator in the119th United States Congress. WhenJD Vance resigned from the Senate on January 10 to prepare to take office asVice President of the United States on January 20, Moreno became Ohio's senior U.S. senator. In April, Moreno negotiated a year-long delay in the closure of theChillicothe Paper Mill withH.I.G. Capital.[32]
For the 119th Congress:[33]
After the2020 presidential election, Moreno criticized those denying the results of the election, but in 2021 expressed his belief thatthe election had been "stolen".[34]
Moreno has said energy is a top priority, expressing support for using coal, oil, and extracted natural gas, as well as building more nuclear plants.[35] He previously expressed support for background checks for gun owners and in a 2019 interview said "What gun do you need with 100 bullets in it?" When asked about these remarks in 2024, a spokesperson for his campaign said that they "unequivocally" did not reflect his position anymore.[36]
In 2023, Moreno said thatreparations should be paid to the descendants of Union soldiers who died in theCivil War (in the context of whether descendants of enslaved Americans should receive them).[37]
Moreno opposesabortion, describing himself in a 2022 interview as "Absolutepro-life. No exceptions."[38] In 2023, Moreno's campaign revealed that he had personally donated $100,000 to Protect Women Ohio Fund, the campaign against Ohio's 2023 abortion-rights referendum.[39] At a March 2024 Republican primary debate, he voiced support for exceptions for rape, incest and when the woman's life is in danger.[40] At that debate, he also expressed support for access to contraception.[41][42] He later expressed opposition to the Right to Contraception Act and said that he would have voted with U.S. Senate Republicans to block the bill. A spokesman said Moreno "supports comprehensive access to birth control for women but not the far-left gimmicks in this bill".[43] He supports a federal 15-week ban on abortions.[44] In 2025, he voted for legislation banning federal funding of organizations that perform abortions.[45]
Before his Senate campaign, Moreno expressed support for theLGBT community. His business sponsored the hosting of the2014 Gay Games byCleveland andAkron. In a 2016 interview, Moreno noted that his eldest son is gay and credited the TV seriesModern Family for changing perceptions ofsame-sex marriage.[1]
During his 2024 Senate run, he accused supporters ofLGBT rights of "advancing a radical agenda of indoctrination".[46]
On immigration, Moreno has expressed support forbuilding a wall on the United States Southern Border, deploying military personnel on the border, and designating Mexican cartels asForeign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Moreno has also repeatedly called for an end tobirthright citizenship.[47][48] In 2016, he expressed support for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, saying "we need to help them come out of the shadows",[49] but now supports deporting them.[36]
In 2025, Moreno introduced the Exclusive Citizenship Act, which requires that U.S. citizens with dual citizenship renounce their other citizenship.[50]
Moreno has called for an end toU.S. support for Ukraine in the ongoingRusso-Ukrainian War. He has expressed support forIsrael and has said Israel needs to "endHamas — end it like we endedISIS." After the2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Moreno argued Israel does not need any additional funding from the United States.[51]
In October 2025,Colombia One reported that Moreno announced that Colombian presidentGustavo Petro and some of his family members were being sanctioned for alleged links to drug trafficking.[52]
In 2016, Moreno called Trump a "lunatic invading [the Republican Party]" and said he could not support a party led by "that maniac".[53] In a now-deleted 2016 tweet, Moreno wrote, "He attacked immigrants, tries to silence the press, & appeals to the darkest part of human nature", then asked his followers whether he was describing Trump orAdolf Hitler.[54] He wrote in a tweet that he hadwritten in a vote forMarco Rubio in the2016 presidential election.[34] During a 2019 radio interview, Moreno said, "there's no scenario in which I would support Trump."
By 2024, Moreno was a Trump supporter, received his endorsement for Senate, and said, "I wear with honor my endorsement from President Trump."[55]
Moreno and his wife, Bridget, live inWestlake, Ohio, and have four adult children.[56] Moreno's daughter Emily is married to CongressmanMax Miller.[57] In August 2024, Miller filed for divorce.[58]
Moreno's brother,Luis Alberto Moreno, is a formerColombian Ambassador to the United States and a member of theWorld Economic Forum's board of trustees.[59]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bernie Moreno | 557,626 | 50.48% | |
| Republican | Matt Dolan | 363,013 | 32.86% | |
| Republican | Frank LaRose | 184,111 | 16.67% | |
| Total votes | 1,104,750 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bernie Moreno | 2,857,383 | 50.09% | +3.51% | |
| Democratic | Sherrod Brown (incumbent) | 2,650,949 | 46.47% | −6.93% | |
| Libertarian | Don Kissick | 195,648 | 3.43% | +3.43% | |
| Write-in | 640 | 0.01% | -0.01% | ||
| Total votes | 5,704,620 | 100.00% | |||
| Turnout | 69.91% | +15.26 | |||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | |||||
And while Dolan and Moreno both say they support exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the mother's life is in jeopardy, LaRose, who brags that his anti-abortion record 'is not something I run away from,' is tougher to pin down.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromOhio (Class 1) 2024 | Most recent |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Ohio 2025–present Served alongside:JD Vance,Jon Husted | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as United States Senator | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States senators by seniority 95th | Succeeded by |
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