Bernie Moreno doesn’t want to talk about abortion.

During a campaign stop in Washington Court House last month, the Republican Ohio Senate candidate accused news media of using abortion to “gaslight Democrat voters.” Ohio voters have spoken, he argued − it’s time to move forward and “stop picking at wounds that are 52 years old.”

But abortion has emerged as a top issue in Moreno’s race against Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who’s seeking a fourth term in one of the country’s most competitive Senate campaigns that could decide which party controls the chamber. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, states including Ohio voted to protect reproductive rights and block abortion bans pushed by the GOP.

The outcome of the 2023 ballot issue put Republicans in a bind, while Brown and other Democrats have cast their opponents as out of touch. Even now, Moreno appears to harbor frustration about the decision to enshrine abortion rights in the Ohio Constitution.

“Look, we lost Issue 1 last year because only 52% of evangelical Christians bothered to show up at the ballot box,” Moreno said during a July campaign event, according to audio obtained by the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. “What did we get in exchange? We have abortion right until birth. We have no parental consent for minors getting an abortion because we didn’t show up to vote. Can’t do that. They can only cheat so much.”

Abortion is legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions beyond that to preserve the patient’s life and health. The state’s parental consent law remains on the books and has yet to be challenged in the wake of the amendment’s passage.

When asked about Moreno’s comments, spokesperson Reagan McCarthy said he was “referring to low turnout and encouraging voters to be engaged in this election, rather than sit on the sidelines.”

Where do Bernie Moreno, Sherrod Brown stand on abortion?

Since Ohio’s election, Republicans nationwide have pivoted on abortion and said they’re focused on policies to support families. Former President Donald Trump came out against federal abortion restrictions after waffling on whether he would support a 15-week ban.

Trump’s stance guided a policy platform at the Republican National Convention that painted abortion as a states’ issue, frustrating social conservatives who wanted to see a stronger rebuke of the procedure.

“We will oppose late term abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance prenatal care, access to birth control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” the platform stated.

Moreno’s position has also evolved. He told a Cincinnati radio host in 2022 that he was “absolute pro-life, no exceptions.” During his Senate primary campaign, Moreno advocated for a 15-week ban with “commonsense restrictions,” including exceptions for rape, incest and to save the pregnant person’s life.

Citing the RNC platform, Moreno told reporters in Washington Court House that Republicans don’t support abortion bans − even though GOP officials and anti-abortion activists worked for years to curtail access and overturn Roe v. Wade. Moreno also said adoptions should be more available and called for women to have better access to health care and contraception.

“I don’t think most Ohioans think that a 35-week-old baby that’s healthy with a healthy mom should be killed,” Moreno said. “Most people don’t think that. Left-wing European countries put restrictions − not bans, restrictions − after 15 weeks, but that’s my personal belief. I support the party platform, which says let’s leave this up to the states.”

Moreno donated $100,000 to a group opposing Ohio’s abortion rights amendment − a stark contrast to Brown, who openly campaigned in favor of it. The three-term senator supported efforts to codify the right to an abortion, protect access to fertility treatments and birth control, and prevent restrictions on out-of-state abortions. He previously said he supports the parameters in Roe, which guaranteed abortion access until fetal viability.

Brown is backed by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. He received an “F” grade from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America − which endorsed Moreno − for opposing legislation to codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit abortion when there’s a diagnosis of Down syndrome. He also voted against a federal abortion ban after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Unlike Moreno, Brown has sought to highlight the issue on the campaign trail − even holding a media call with feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

“It’s not just that (Moreno is) wrong on women’s reproductive rights. It’s not just that he disregards women and the rights of half of our society,” Brown said in an interview. “It’s also that he’s flying in the face of what the voters have said we should do. You’re going to go off to Washington fundamentally fighting against something your voters just overwhelmingly passed? This should not be a ticket to office.”

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

A contentious senate race in Ohio is stressing the disconnect between the Democratic Party’s pro-tax agenda and the personal finances of some of its most prominent members.

One of those Democrats is Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, whose race against Republican Bernie Moreno may decide party control on Capitol Hill.

During his long career, Brown has voted for tax increases and against cuts regularly.

• In 2010, Brown co-sponsored Bernie Sanders’ so-called “Death Tax” bill, which would have taxed estates up to 65% after the owner’s death.
• Then, In 2013 and 2015, Brown voted NO on creating new tax funds that would have allowed the “Death Tax” to be phased out all together.
• Brown voted against – and opposed the extension of – George Bush-era tax cuts which lowered the tax rate for all income levels.
• Brown currently supports President Biden’s plan to “forgive”student loan debt, which opponents say is simply a cleverly disguised $1.4 trillion tax hike. 

In 2023, Brown faced heavy criticism for falsely claiming tax credits for his home and filing late payments on his own personal returns. 

NBC News reported Brown was late on tax payments at least seven times for his Cleveland home and was even labeled “delinquent” by Cuyahoga County for failing to make a scheduled $1,200 payment. 

Brown was also forced to pay back Franklin County for falsely claiming occupancy tax credits on a second residence in Columbus. Brown says he no longer claims those tax credits on the Columbus property, which the Franklin County clerk confirmed. 

“Perhaps these members, like Sherrod Brown, shouldn’t be getting paid their senate salary until they pay back their fair share,” Grover Norquist, founder of Americans for Tax Reform told The Post.

“Or maybe he can start flying coach instead of first class on all these special senatorial flights. That middle seat would probably make a lot of politicians very honest very quickly.”

A spokesperson for Brown told The Post that the tax credit issue was fully resolved over a year ago, but did not comment on whether the senator still owes late payments or is currently up to date on his personal returns.

”Democrats view taxes as incoming money,” Norquist continued.

“I think most of us would actually view it as outgoing money. Our loss is quite literally their gain. They see us as two groups: you pay the taxes, we’ll spend the taxes. They say ‘taxes are wonderful,’ and then we’re all out there wondering: ‘wait…wonderful for who?’”

Norquist says the problems go all the way to the top.

“It’s all of them. Even President Biden was caught at one point avoiding taxes. I’m sure Harris and the others all fear a call from the IRS just as much as the rest of us,” he told The Post.

“Hypocrite Sherrod Brown has spent his career hiking taxes on Ohioans but time and again refuses to pay his own. Brown is just another career politician who thinks he’s above the law,” NRSC Spokesman Philip Letsou told The Post. 

Experts like University of Dayton Professor Chris DeVine believe taxes will be a key issue across the country this November.

“The economy is a key factor for voters in Ohio, and throughout the United States,” he told The Post.

“Taxation is a key economic concern. One challenge for Bernie Moreno and other Republicans will be convincing voters that, contrary to Democratic messaging on this issue, their tax cuts will benefit the middle class and not just wealthy people or corporations.”

Polling shows that Brown maintains a five point lead over Moreno in the nation’s most expensive senate race.

Haitian immigrants helped save a shrinking, decaying city after industry left town, but some neighbors worry they put too much strain on services.

Springfield, Ohio, fell on hard times after the car factories closed and other industry pulled out, and its population fell from 80,000 in 1960 to 60,000 in 2014.

That was the year city officials put together a plan to save the town by convincing businesses to set up shop and provide new jobs.

They touted the low cost of living combined with its location on two interstate highways between Columbus and Dayton – and it worked, the New York Times reported.

Japanese vehicle parts maker Topre was one of the first to arrive in 2017, followed by a microchip manufacturer, a logistics company, and many more.

About 8,000 new jobs were created by 2020, and they have only increased since then. But there were not enough workers to fill them.

Then Haitian immigrants elsewhere in the US, who were in the country legally, heard Springfield needed workers.

Willing to do the blue-collar jobs locals were unenthusiastic about and keen to pay lower rent than in big cities, they arrived in droves.

About 20,000 came in just a few years, swelling the town’s population – which was just 58,000 in the 2020 census.

The immigrants had social security numbers and job permits, paid taxes, and lived in houses that were empty and boarded up as the town shrank.

Their arrival was the engine that drove Springfield’s economic boom and allowed businesses to keep investing in it and creating more jobs and tax income.

Members of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center in Springfield

Workers at Springfield business McGregor Metal, which hired 30 Haitian immigrants among its staff of 300

But the Haitians also needed to see doctors when they got sick, and send their children to school.

At the community health clinic, Haitian patients rose from 115 to 1,500 between 2021 and 2023, overwhelming services

Rocking Horse Community Health Center chief medical officer Yamini Teegala said language barriers meant a 15-minute consult took up to 45 minutes.

‘We lost productivity. We had a huge burnout of staff,’ she told the New York Times.

The clinic hired six Haitian Creole translators, but its translation budget blew out from $43,000 in 2020 to $436,000, which Teegala said was unsustainable.

Almost 350 new children were registered with the local public school district this year, most of them from immigrant families.

City officials said the school system was overwhelmed with so many new children, most of whom don’t speak English. The district hired two dozen translators.

Having filled empty homes, later arrivals also contributed to a housing crisis egged on by landlords prioritizing immigrants who would pay more, instead of low-income locals on government subsidies.

‘Here in Springfield, the new homeless are people who can’t afford to pay $2,000 or $3,000 a month in rent,’ said Michelle Lee-Hall, executive director of Springfield’s housing authority.

Rony Symmat, a Haitian immigrant living in Springfield

Mayor Rob Rue went from talking up the city’s economic success to complaining about the migrant influx on national TV

Bubbling tensions overflowed after a school bus crash caused by a Haitian immigrant veering into the wrong lane killed Aiden Clark, 11, on August 22 last year.

He was thrown out the emergency exit as the bus rolled off the road, and crushed as the vehicle went over him. Another 20 students were injured. 

Angry residents used a July 30 council meeting to vent their feelings about immigrants moving into the town, making wild claims in their speeches.

One vocal resident, local Republican committee member Glenda Bailey, claimed the Haitians were ‘occupying our land’ and had low IQs.

‘They have become the occupiers. What they’ve done is they’ve replaced the population in Springfield,’ she claimed, warning they would soon become the majority and kick everyone else out.

Others falsely claimed the Haitian immigrants brought drugs, crimes, shoplifting, and disease with them – all refuted by city officials.

The issue gained national attention when city manager Bryan Heck wrote to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee on July 8, asking for more federal funding.

‘Springfield has seen a surge in population through immigration that has significantly impacted our ability as a community to produce enough housing opportunities for all,’ he wrote.

Bubbling tensions overflowed after a school bus crash caused by a Haitian immigrant veering into the wrong lane killed Aiden Clark, 11, on August 22 last year

Aiden was thrown out the emergency exit as the bus rolled off the road, and crushed as the vehicle went over him. Another 20 students were injured

Family members reunited with their children after the bus crash

‘Springfield’s Haitian population has increased to 15,000 – 20,000 over the last four years in a community of just under 60,000 previous residents, putting a significant strain on our resources and ability to provide ample housing for all of our residents.

‘Without further support at the Federal level, communities like Springfield are set up to fail in being able to meet the housing needs of its residents.’

Heck copied in Ohio Senator JD Vance, who not long after became Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election.

‘I could not believe it when I first heard about it. Ask the people there, whether they have been enriched by 20,000 newcomers in four years,’ Vance declared at the National Conservativism Conference.

Soon Mayor Rob Rue went from talking up the city’s economic success to complaining about the migrant influx on national TV.

Some townspeople point to an interview he and Heck did on Fox News in July as inflaming tensions.

The segment linked Springfield’s burgeoning population to the mass arrivals of ‘illegal immigrants’ at the southern border, despite the Haitians in the town being admitted to the US legally and having work permits.

‘This border crisis, the policy of this administration, is failing cities like ours and taxing us beyond our limit,’ Rue said.

Heck added: ‘It’s taxing our infrastructure. It’s taxing public safety. It’s taxing our schools. It’s taxing health care… it’s taxing our housing.’ 

Angry residents used a July 30 council meeting to vent their pent-up feelings about immigrants moving into the town, making wild claims in their speeches

One vocal resident, local Republican committee member Glenda Bailey, claimed the Haitians were ‘occupying our land’ and had low IQs

Korge Mori, the child of Japanese immigrants, said the interview was ‘whipping up mass hysteria’ in Springfield, during the council meeting.

‘There was a time, not too long ago, when we were a dying city, hemorrhaging people and jobs to other places,’ he said.

‘And the good Lord heard our prayers, and brought us the gift of the Haitian immigrant community.’

Springfield Police also dismissed claims the immigrants caused trouble, saying property crime was only up in line with national trends.

There was also no evidence of Haitian gangs in the town.

‘I think it’s sad that some people are using this as an opportunity to spread hate or spread fear,’ deputy director of public safety and operations Jason Via told NPR.

‘We get these reports “the Haitians are killing ducks in a lot of our parks” or “the Haitians are eating vegetables right out of the aisle at the grocery store.” 

‘And we haven’t really seen any of that. It’s really frustrating. As a community, it’s not helpful as we try to move forward.’

Employers of Haitian immigrants also had positive words.

‘I think this whole notion of migrants taking American jobs is hogwash,’ Jamie McGregor, chief executive of local business McGregor Metal, told NPR.

‘That’s spoken like a true person that has never made a payroll or tried to, you know, run a business.’

Rony Symmat, a Haitian immigrant living in Springfield, speaks at the council meeting

McGregor Metals has a testimonial from one of its workers on its website, praising its culture and support

McGregor said the Haitian immigrants were essential to the firm’s growth and success, and they made up 30 of his 300 staff.

‘Coming out of the pandemic, you know, the economy roared and demand was outpacing what we could produce,’ he said.

‘I mean, the fact of the matter is, without the Haitian associates that we have, we had trouble filling these positions.’

McGregor Metals has a testimonial from one of its workers on its website, praising its culture and support.

‘I like that it is a family-orientated business. When I first came here, I felt so welcomed by the people I work with, and I still do,’ it read.