For Republicans eager to regain the Senate majority this year, Ohio offers a prime opportunity to pick up a critical seat.
But ahead of Tuesday's primary election, there's mounting anxiety inside the GOP that Bernie Moreno may emerge with the nomination. After vaulting into the top tier of contenders with a coveted endorsement from Donald Trump, Moreno 鈥� who has shifted from a public supporter of LGBTQ2S+ rights to a hardline opponent 鈥� is confronting questions about the existence of a 2008 profile seeking "Men for 1-on-1 sex鈥� on a casual sexual encounters website called Adult Friend Finder.
鈥淗i, looking for young guys to have fun with while traveling,鈥� reads a caption on a photo-less profile under the username 鈥渘ardo19672,鈥� according to an Associated Press review of records made public through a massive and well-publicized data breach of the website. Records also show the profile was last accessed about six hours after it was created.
The AP review confirmed that someone with access to Moreno鈥檚 email account created the profile, though the AP could not definitively confirm whether it was created by Moreno himself. Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month. On Thursday evening, two days after the AP first asked Moreno鈥檚 campaign about the account, the candidate鈥檚 lawyer said a former intern created the account as a prank. The lawyer provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as 鈥減art of a juvenile prank.鈥�
鈥淚 am thoroughly embarrassed by an aborted prank I pulled on my friend, and former boss, Bernie Moreno, nearly two decades ago,鈥� Ricci said. The AP couldn't independently confirm Ricci's statement and he didn't immediately respond to messages left for him on multiple phone numbers listed to him. He donated $6,599 to Moreno鈥檚 campaign last year, according to campaign finance records.
Moreno's lawyer, Charles Harder, insisted Moreno 鈥渉ad nothing to do with the AFF account.鈥�
Once a premier swing state, Ohio has moved sharply to the right in recent years. Trump easily won the state in 2016 and 2020 and the GOP controls top statewide offices along with both chambers of the legislature. That has raised hopes among Republicans that Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown won't be able to overcome the headwinds that have largely swept his party out of power in Ohio.
And with Republicans just one seat short of a Senate majority if they also win the presidency, the results in Ohio could have major implications for the balance of power in Washington.
The dynamics have raised the stakes for Trump, who sided with Moreno in a crowded field that includes Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan. Trump is scheduled to appear alongside Moreno on Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.
GOP frustration
Moreno's potential vulnerability has sparked frustration among senior Republican operatives and elected officials in Washington and Ohio, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. The people requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies. They described concerns surrounding Moreno's candidacy as so acute that some party officials sought a review of data to determine his potential involvement.
That review, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, linked the profile to Moreno's work email address.
The AP鈥檚 independent review reached the same conclusion. The AP obtained data from the Adult Friend Finder leak as well as information that remains publicly accessible on the company's website. An analysis of those records show the profile was created and authenticated by someone who had access to Moreno鈥檚 work email account.
Beyond the work email, the profile lists Moreno鈥檚 correct date of birth, while geolocation data indicates that the account was set up for use in a part of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where property records show Moreno鈥檚 parents owned a home at the time. The account鈥檚 username 鈥� nardo19672 鈥� appears to refer to Moreno鈥檚 full first name, Bernardo, as well as the year and month of his birth in February 1967.
鈥淭his is a telling example of how this data doesn鈥檛 just go away,鈥� said Jake Williams, a prominent cybersecurity researcher and a former National Security Agency offensive hacker who independently confirmed that Moreno鈥檚 work email address was included in a copy of the leaked data from Adult Friend Finder.
Harder also provided a statement from Helder Rosa, a former vice president for Bernie Moreno Companies, that said Ricci was an intern in November 2008 and that people in such roles had duties that included checking emails. Rosa has donated $12,400 to Moreno鈥檚 two campaigns for Senate, according to campaign finance records. He didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moreno, 57, was born in Colombia to a wealthy family before immigrating to Florida as a child and becoming a U.S. citizen at the age of 18, according to a biography on his website. He purchased his first car dealership in 2005 and used his wealth to build an empire that came to include high-end dealerships in multiple states.
Shifting views
And before Moreno began articulating anti-LGBTQ2S+ views during his runs for public office, he made comments that seemed to reflect acceptance of homosexuality.
When Cleveland and Akron won their bid to host the 2014 Gay Games, an Olympics-like international competition featuring LGBTQ2S+ athletes, Moreno was an enthusiastic supporter while his auto dealership company was a financial sponsor, according to an opinion article he wrote for the business publication Crain鈥檚 Cleveland Business.
鈥淎 successful Gay Games would go a long way toward boosting our images as cities that welcome all,鈥� Moreno wrote while issuing a call for northeast Ohio鈥檚 philanthropic community to rally behind the event. 鈥淭hey need help to put them on. Hosting a complex multi-venue event requires a network of financial supporters and volunteers. It must be a community effort.鈥�
During a 2016 question and answer session posted to his company鈥檚 YouTube page, Moreno noted that his eldest son is gay, while crediting the TV show 鈥淢odern Family鈥� with changing perceptions about same-sex marriage.
鈥淲e watched these two guys and, we say: 鈥橸ou know what? They're good guys, they鈥檙e great people. ... They are not this distorted thing that is out there.' And I think those are the kinds of ways that you can break down stereotypes,鈥� Moreno said during the event.
When fliers appeared on the campus of Cleveland State University in October 2017 urging gay and transgender students to commit suicide, Moreno, who was then chairman of the school鈥檚 board of trustees, was the leading signer of a letter condemning the 鈥渁bhorrent message鈥� as 鈥渁n attack on our whole campus.鈥�
As recently as 2020, his companies were included on a list of Ohio businesses that supported a law banning discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Leaders of Equality Ohio, a leading LGBTQ2S+ rights group in the state, said Moreno joined the campaign supporting the legislation after a conversation with the organization鈥檚 leadership in 2017 during event promoting the bill.
But that all appeared to change when Moreno first ran for Senate in 2021 before bowing out of the race early. He began to distance himself from his past activism, professing to be unfamiliar with the anti-discrimination legislation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported at the time.
During his current Senate campaign, Moreno has accused advocates for LGBTQ2S+ rights of advancing a 鈥渞adical鈥� agenda of 鈥渋ndoctrination.鈥� He is endorsed by Ohio Value Voters, a group that opposes LGBTQ2S+ rights, including same-sex marriage. And his campaign鈥檚 social media accounts have blasted his opponents, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Sen. Matt Dolan, as supporters of a 鈥渞adical trans agenda.鈥�
A recent TV ad paid for by Buckeye Values, a pro-Moreno super PAC, superimposes a picture of LaRose over a rainbow flag while attacking him as 鈥渁 champion for trans equality.鈥� The ad cites LaRose鈥檚 past endorsement for a bill 鈥� which Moreno鈥檚 company previously supported 鈥� that would have banned discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
鈥淐an you trust Frank LaRose?鈥� a narrator asks, while also criticizing LaRose for making favorable statements in the past about Equality Ohio, a prominent gay rights group. Moreno supported the same legislation through his companies.
Donald Trump Jr. later posted the ad to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, stating 鈥淚 have no doubt鈥� Ohio voters will elect 鈥渢he real conservative @berniemoreno over leftwing, pro-trans Frank LaRose.鈥�
Moreno鈥檚 shifting rhetoric on LGBTQ2S+ issues 鈥渋s a real shame,鈥� said Maria Bruno, the public policy director for Equality Ohio, which advocates for LGBTQ2S+ rights. 鈥滱nyone who is going to be compromising their value system just to win an election, they lose a lot of credibility.鈥�
Associated Press data journalist Larry Fenn contributed to this report from New York
