Ohio GOP Senate candidate plans new car dealership amid scrutiny of his businesses

Bernie Moreno, the Republican Senate nominee in Ohio whose past as a car dealer has been mocked and scrutinized by his Democratic rival, is preparing a return to the auto industry.

In a recently filed personal financial disclosure statement, Moreno identified himself as a manager of two companies — including a realty business that he lists as an asset — that, according to public records, are developing a Mercedes-Benz dealership.

Moreno, who has said several times during his bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown that he sold off all of his businesses to avoid conflicts of interest, confirmed his involvement in an interview. He described himself as an investor in the venture, which will be run by his son Kevin.

Construction on the Columbus-area dealership is not expected to break ground until around the time of the November election, Moreno said, adding that, if he wins, he plans to relinquish his stake in the realty company. Moreno said that because the company is not yet generating revenue or providing income, he does not consider it an operating business like those he divested from as part of his campaign promise.

“I got rid of all my operating businesses, anything that would have given me a conflict,” Moreno said in an interview in May with Kitco News, which covers the precious metals market and cryptocurrency, another business in which Moreno has invested.

In a video interview with a local GOP official this year, Moreno also characterized his divestments as a way to free him up for a grueling campaign against Brown.

“I knew defeating Sherrod Brown was going to be very difficult. What did I do? I sold every one of my businesses, made sure I had no conflicts of interest, so that I could focus my complete attention to do this,” he said.

Ohio’s Senate race is a potential tipping point for partisan control of the chamber. Brown and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana are the only two Democrats seeking re-election this year in states that former President Donald Trump won twice. Brown, Moreno and allied groups on both sides already have combined to spend more than $100 million on advertising in Ohio, according to AdImpact, an ad-tracking firm.

Democrats have attacked Moreno’s business dealings, specifically his record as a car dealer. Brown’s campaign has run ads that play on tropes about dishonest car salespeople while characterizing Moreno as an unprincipled businessman who mistreats employees, citing past lawsuits over workplace discrimination and overtime pay against his companies. 

“The guy running against me, he ran car dealerships, made a lot of money,” Brown said last week at a campaign event near Youngstown. “I talk about the dignity of work all the time, as you know. That’s who I am, it’s what I stand for, it’s what I care about. And he had to pay $400,000 in back pay to his workers that he stiffed on overtime.”

Moreno has framed Brown as a career politician too closely aligned with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, to be trusted in a state where Trump beat them by 8 percentage points. 

“His fake slogan is the ‘dignity of work,’” Moreno said at an event this month in Medina, near Cleveland. “How would he possibly know about the dignity of work? How would he know? He’s never had a job that wasn’t being an elected official, ever.”

Moreno also has sought to neutralize the Democratic attacks on his business portfolio by pledging to avoid conflicts of interest.

“One of the things I firmly believe in is not just to run for office and set an example as a senator, but [to] set an example as a candidate, which means be completely free of any conflicts of interest,” Moreno said in January at a town hall event with pastors. “I don’t believe that senators should trade stocks, should own companies. You’ve got to be completely clear, completely clean, of any conflicts of interest.” 

In his recent personal financial disclosure statement, a form that Senate candidates are required to file, Moreno listed more than 20 “business entities” as assets, including M20 Realty LLC, as well as other limited liability companies and limited partnerships. Moreno said the entities are a combination of non-operating companies and real estate holdings that include properties where he and his family members live.

M20 Realty and M20 Motors LLC each filed articles of organization with the Ohio secretary of state in June 2022, records show. M20 Motors then registered Mercedes-Benz of Sunbury as a trade name in September 2022, listing Moreno’s home near Cleveland as its address. Moreno’s financial disclosure identified him as a manager for both companies and listed M20 Realty as an asset that “had a value of more than $1,000 or generated income of more than $200.” 

In April, weeks after Moreno won the Senate primary, M20 Realty acquired land in Sunbury, a suburb north of Columbus, for $9.5 million, according to property records in Delaware County. Around that time, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA entered into a mortgage agreement with M20 Realty. Moreno signed the mortgage as a manager for M20 Realty and signed a landlord/tenant agreement between M20 Realty and M20 Motors on behalf of both companies, according to copies accessed on the county’s website. 

Moreno said the Sunbury project has been in the works for four years — dating to before he sold his last operating car dealerships to focus on a blockchain venture. He sold his shares in the blockchain company, Champ Titles, last year, netting more than $5 million, according to his 2023 financial disclosure form.