Ohio's Senate race lacks debate, but has lots of crypto cash
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It's increasingly likely that Sen. Sherrod Brown and challenger Bernie Moreno will not debate before Election Day.
Why it matters: This would be Ohio's first Senate race without a debate in decades, keeping voters from seeing candidates discuss their policies and vision in a long-form setting.
State of play: Brown and Moreno are competing in the most expensive (and perhaps most hotly contested) Senate race in the country. Both have publicly expressed interest in debating.
- "I would like to debate. I've always said that," the Dispatch quoted Brown as telling reporters this month.
- "Bernie has repeatedly expressed interest in debating Sherrod Brown. We are not going to negotiate the terms of any debate in the press," Moreno's campaign told Spectrum News 1.
Yes, but: Neither campaign responded to an invitation by the Ohio Debate Commission.
- Axios Columbus asked the campaigns to explain why, but they didn't answer us, either.
Flashback: Ohio Senate candidates have debated in every election cycle of the past 30 years, an Axios review of C-SPAN video archives found.
- Brown previously debated Republicans Jim Renacci in 2018, Josh Mandel in 2012 and Mike DeWine in 2006.
- Moreno debated fellow Republican primary candidates Matt Dolan and Frank LaRose several times earlier this year.
⏳ With time running out to debate this fall, candidates are instead relying on a barrage of TV and social media ads to reach voters.
Zoom in: A major funder of pro-Moreno ads has been the cryptocurrency industry. Crypto groups have dropped over $40 million while aiming for a two-fer: helping Moreno (a blockchain entrepreneur) to defeat Brown (an industry critic).
- They've spent tens of millions of dollars across the country mainly in support of GOP candidates, but their No. 1 focus has been this Senate race.
The intrigue: The Black Keys, an indie rock group from Akron, is promoting a pro-crypto message ahead of the election.
- The band is headed home Friday to perform a concert on the "America Loves Crypto Tour," sponsored by Stand With Crypto, an industry political group. A poster for the show urges attendees to "Go Vote."
- Stand With Crypto has done voter outreach in Ohio and rates Moreno as "strongly supportive" of the industry, while Brown is deemed to be "strongly against."
🐴 Horse race update: Moreno has gained some ground in polling this fall, and the candidates are now virtually tied in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
- Election forecasters still have the race as a toss-up.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that the "America Loves Crypto Tour" is sponsored by the political organization Stand With Crypto and is not a tour by the Black Keys.