Trump family raise cash for Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno in bid to turn Senate MAGA

Donald Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno (seen with wife Bridget) in Dec. 2023. Facebook/Bernie Moreno

Donald Trump’s family are to raise money for a Republican candidate in Ohio endorsed by the former president in a race which could be pivotal to control of the Senate.

Don Jr. and his fiancé Kimberly Guilfoyle are hosting a Palm Beach, Florida fundraiser for Bernie Moreno, a multi-millionaire car dealer from Cleveland, who is currently running in a three-way Republican primary for the chance to take on the incumbent Democrat, Sherrod Brown.

The Trumps’ involvement is a flex of political and financial muscle in Ohio, where he twice won by an 8 point margin but where Brown is a rare red-state Democratic senator. It is also a sign of Trump’s own interest in having MAGA loyalists in the senate if he returns to the White House.

U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno and Donald Trump Jr. attended a private dinner raising money for Republicans in Ohio last April. Trump Jr. said at the event that 2024, “is our last chance to get back the U.S. Senate this decade.” Benjamin Duer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Moreno will be joined at the event by Ohio’s sole Republican senator, J.D. Vance, anti-woke financier Omeed Malik and two people both tipped as possible running mates for Trump: former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is an Ohio native, and Fla. congressman Byron Donalds.

Moreno published his own polling Friday which suggested that, thanks to the Trump endorsement, he is 10 points ahead of his nearest rival, Cleveland Guardians owner Matt Dolan, but that the race is still up for grabs.

Moreno is on 31%, Dolan is on 21% and third-placed Frank LaRose, the Ohio secretary of state is on 17% but 27% of Republican voters are still undecided. A previous Emerson poll in January, just after the endorsement, put Moreno on 21% and LaRose on 20%.

The host committee, led by Guilfoyle and Malik, has already raised over $200,000 for the event. Entrance to the dinner, hosted at a private venue in the ultra-wealthy Fla. enclave, is $25,000.

Vivek Ramaswamy (left), Kimberly Guilfoyle (second right) and Donald Trump Jr. (right) will raise money for Moreno (center) Friday night. They are pictured with (center) Franklin County Republican Party Chair Meredith Freedhoff. @Meredith4OH/X

Sherrod Brown, speaking to supporters at a campaign event earlier this year, is running for his 4th term as a Senator from Ohio. AP

Guilfoyle previously hosted a fundraiser in January at Mar-a-Lago that raised $300,000 for Moreno. Hosting another is a bid to show her and Malik’s fundraising ability.

“Kimberly and Omeed are showing that not only can they raise money for President Trump, but they are able to bundle and raise money for key Senate races across the country,” a source close to the pair told The Post.

Even if Moreno wins the primary, early polls suggest he is facing a tough race against Brown, who Emerson put on 39% to 37% for the Republican.

Ohio is seen as a key pick-up opportunity for Republicans and would be a vital win if the party is to re-take the Senate at the November polls.

Bernie Moreno made his money owning car dealerships, predominantly in Ohio but also in New England. MediaNews Group via Getty Images

State Rep. Matt Dolan, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and Bernie Moreno (pictured from left to right) are running for Senate. While Moreno is leading by 10 points, roughly a quarter of Ohioans say they are undecided. AP

Moreno is a Colombian-born immigrant and former Democratic donor who has been hammered with attack ads by his rivals from the right, saying that the Senate has one “liberal” Bernie already — Bernie Sanders.

In now-deleted tweets, Moreno suggested Trump was a “fake republican” who is only popular because of “ignorance in our society”

But his daughter Emily married into Trump-world; her husband Max Miller, a Republican congressman for the once-safely Democratic western suburbs of Cleveland where Moreno himself lives, is a former White House aide.

Before marrying Emily Moreno, Miller was in a relationship with then-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who accused him of domestic violence, which he has denied.