COLUMBUS, Ohio—Republican U.S. Senate nominee Bernie Moreno, during a recent campaign stop, said it’s “a little crazy” that many suburban women vote based on abortion rights, and he questioned why women over the age of 50 care about abortion at all.
“You know, the left has a lot of single-issue voters,” Moreno said during a town-hall meeting in Warren County on Friday, according to a recording obtained by cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion’s it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’”
Moreno continued: “It’s a little crazy, by the way, but, especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’”
As members of the audience laughed, Moreno added, “Oh, thank God my wife didn’t hear that one. I’d get in trouble.”
Moreno spokeswoman Reagan McCarthy, in a statement, said: “Bernie was clearly making a tongue-in-cheek joke about how (Democratic U.S. Sen.) Sherrod Brown and members of the left-wing media like to pretend that the only issue that matters to women voters is abortion.
“Bernie’s view is that women voters care just as much about the economy, rising prices, crime, and our open southern border as male voters do,” McCarthy continued, “and it’s disgusting that Democrats and their friends in the left-wing media constantly treat all women as if they’re automatically single issue voters on abortion who don’t have other concerns that they vote on.”
Last year, 57% of Ohio voters supported putting language in the state constitution guaranteeing abortion rights, rolling back efforts by the Republican-controlled state legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine to curtail abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Moreno, a Cleveland car dealership owner, called himself “100% pro-life without exceptions” during his 2021 U.S. Senate campaign. Earlier this year, during the 2024 Republican U.S. Senate primary race, Moreno said he supported a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks into a pregnancy, as well as giving states the option to enact tougher restrictions.
Brown, a Cleveland Democrat seeking a fourth Senate term, has co-sponsored federal legislation to allow abortion without limits before fetal viability (about 24 weeks into a pregnancy, which was the standard under Roe v. Wade). After fetal viability, the bill would generally ban abortions except when an abortion provider believes that continuing a pregnancy would put the mother’s life or health at risk.
In a statement, Brown, a Cleveland Democrat running for a fourth Senate term, said, “Bernie Moreno has once again shown us exactly who he is and that he thinks he knows better than the 57% of Ohioans who made themselves clear on this issue.
“As a man over the age of 50,” Brown added, “I care deeply about a woman’s right to make health care decisions for herself – for my daughters, my granddaughters, and all Ohio women, regardless of their age. Despite the majority of Ohioans agreeing, Moreno has made it clear he would overturn the will of Ohioans by passing a national abortion ban.”
Moreno’s comments were first reported by WCMH-TV.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
