Guy Who Called Women 'Crazy' for Caring About Abortion Wins Ohio Senate Race

For months, pundits speculated that the nailbiter Ohio Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican nominee Bernie Moreno could decide the fate of the Senate. On Tuesday, Moreno defeated Brown by a five-point margin, called by NBC. Over the final weeks of the election, the race increasingly seemed to center abortion, one year after the state decisively passed a ballot measure, Issue 1, to enshrine a right to abortion in the state Constitution.

Throughout the 2024 election, Moreno couldn't seem to stop putting his foot in his mouth. In September, Moreno wrote women off as hysterical, “single-issue” voters who are "a bit crazy" about abortion. The comments drew swift, bipartisan backlash: Over 1,200 Ohio women voters across the political spectrum wrote an open letter to Moreno, calling his comments insulting and deeming him "unfit" to represent them.

But even before that, Moreno spent months repeatedly insulting women who care about their reproductive freedoms. In February, he suggested that abortion rights are unnecessary because women simply need help carrying heavy strollers. Earlier in September, before calling us all "crazy," he built on Republicans’ increasing penchant for election denialism, lying that Ohio's abortion rights ballot measure only won last year because Democrats cheated.

Moreno's victory means Republicans have gained a key Senate seat in a battleground state—another seat they can wield in their increasingly aggressive war on reproductive rights. It's not just terrifying but frankly infuriating to watch someone run and win on insulting women. And it's a bleak reminder that, while abortion is clearly a winning issue, pro-abortion rights voters need to understand that whatever progress they may gain through ballot measures, electing Republican officials is directly at odds with this.