In Austintown Ohio‚ contractor Tom McGuire shows how complex modern voting patterns can be - he supports both Trump and Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. “When you see all the ads on TV‚ [Moreno] barely talks about anything that hes doing“ McGuire says while loading groceries in his Cleveland Browns cap
The political landscape in Ohio has changed big-time since 12 years ago when it was a key battleground state. Now Brown needs to get votes from both Trump supporters and his traditional base to win his 4th term - something no Democratic Senate candidate has done in a Trump-won state
The race between Brown and Bernie Moreno is getting lots of attention (and hundreds-of-millions in campaign money). Brown has done well in educated areas like Columbus where he got better results with each election; however this time he needs more than just city votes
The Mahoning Valley shows how hard it is for Democrats nowadays. This area used to be super-Democratic but now its different:
- Trump won it in 2020 - first Republican since Nixon
- Union membership isnt as strong as before
- Cultural issues are pushing some voters away
- Many former Democrats now support Republicans
Weʼd show clips of Tim Ryan talking about cutting taxes or whatever‚ fighting for workers and youd get people whod say ʼWow I love him I want to vote for him.ʼ And then youd inform them hes a Democrat and theyd go ʼOh I cant vote for a Democratʼ
Brown - who drives union-made cars and wears a canary pin to show support for workers - faces tough competition from car-dealer Moreno. The race might come down to places like Delaware County where voters recently supported abortion rights by 19 points