The Libre Initiative Action, a pro-Hispanic interest group funded by Republican megadonor Charles Koch, has endorsed Ohio Republican candidate Bernie Moreno for Senate.  

Ohio is at the top of Republicans’ list as a prime opportunity to flip a blue seat and take control of the Senate next year. Moreno, a former car dealer, is up against three-term incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). 

“Ohio’s growing Latino community knows that the Buckeye State is a great place to live, raise a family, and start a business,” Libre Initiative Action Ohio adviser Lair Marin-Marcum told the Hill. “Unfortunately, Washington policies are making it increasingly difficult for Ohio Latinos to live out their version of the American dream.”

Statewide, Latinos make up 4.5% of the population. However, they contributed 9.2% to the state’s growth in the past decade ending in 2021 — a disproportionate share of Ohio’s economic growth, according to a report released last fall. 

“Latinos are a growing share of the population, and they also trend younger … so I expected a lot of growth from Latinos,” Mark Partridge, an urban economist at Ohio State University, told the Columbus Dispatch last year.

Both Moreno and Brown will focus heavily on the economy. 

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“We have an opportunity now to retire the old commie,” Moreno told his supporters at a victory party for his primary win in March.

Republicans are bullish on picking up a Senate seat in the Buckeye State, but they are even more confident former President Donald Trump will win the state’s Electoral College votes. Trump has won Ohio in the last two election cycles, and Republicans have dominated there since 1976, with the exceptions of Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton flipping the state in each of their contests.