Voters in Ohio likely won’t be able to watch Sen. Sherrod Brown and businessman Bernie Moreno face off on stage before next month’s elections.
Brown is running for a fourth term against Moreno in one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate elections, which could determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the chamber. The race is on track to become the most expensive non-presidential contest in history, according to political ad tracking firm AdImpact.
Despite the high stakes, Brown and Moreno have not agreed to a debate — even though both candidates publicly say they are up to the task.
“I still plan to debate whether it comes to that,” Brown told reporters in Columbus on Tuesday. ‘I would like to debate. I’ve always said that.’
Hours later, Moreno told WOSU that he had been offered to debate his opponent for months: “Sherrod Brown can’t stand on a debate stage and debate me, because he makes up lie after lie after lie after lie,” he said.
Fox 8 in Cleveland, owned by Nexstar, and NBC4 in Columbus co-hosted a Republican Senate primary debate earlier this year — in which Moreno participated — and hoped to do the same for the general election. NBC4 News Director Denise Eck said that idea “didn’t come to fruition” but did not elaborate.
The Ohio Debate Commission made a similar assessment, saying it had “extended invitations to both campaigns to participate in a debate and while the invitations have been acknowledged, no formal response has been received from either candidate.”
Brown’s campaign did not respond to questions about debate negotiations.
“Bernie has repeatedly expressed interest in a debate about Sherrod Brown,” Moreno spokesman Reagan McCarthy said. “We are not going to negotiate the terms of any debate in the press.”
No debate would break precedent for Brown, who faced multiple opponents during his first Senate run in 2006 and subsequent reelection bids. Senator JD Vance and former Congressman Tim Ryan took part in two debates as they ran for Ohio’s open Senate seat in 2022.
But campaigns often clash with organizers over rules and moderators, with some choosing to avoid debates altogether. For example, Gov. Mike DeWine declined to debate former Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley when they ran for governor two years ago.
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations in Ohio.
This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Senate debate between Sherrod Brown and Bernie Moreno appears unlikely
