Where Brown and Moreno stand on the border, housing and more

Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board
| Akron Beacon Journal

Ohio voters this year are faced with a choice between two very different Senate candidates: a veteran politician with a moderate policy approach and affinity with the working class, and a wealthy businessman from Colombia with no political experience.

Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown and Republican candidate Bernie Moreno share some similarities. Both reject elitism, despite possessing some qualities of it (the Yale graduate at Brown versus the born rich Moreno). Both also agree that the high cost of living and drug trafficking must be addressed.

But in terms of both character and policy, the similarities do not extend much further.

These differences were made clear to the Beacon Journal from the start: While Brown sat down with the editors to discuss his re-election priorities, Moreno’s campaign did not respond to multiple interview questions after initial contact.

And while we didn’t get a chance to speak with Moreno, it’s pretty clear that Brown has concrete proposals he could pursue if re-elected, while Moreno’s plans lack specific details.

Don’t believe us? See their positions on some of the most pressing issues for Summit County residents, based on interviews and online research.

Safe and affordable housing

Brown: Since becoming chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Brown said he has focused on housing.

He said he had urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to cut rates in early 2024. The Reserve made its first rate cuts in September.

Brown said he is also pushing back on “predatory investors” and favors eliminating tax breaks for hedge funds that buy up properties and drive up rents. He also supports providing down payment assistance to certain groups of people, such as teachers, firefighters and police, and he wants to expand that to helping other people buy their first home.

Moreno has mentioned the need to reduce mortgage costs during his campaign trail. More broadly, his campaign website lists his fourth priority as: “Massively reduce anti-growth regulations, cut government spending and end inflation.”

He often mentions homelessness through the lens of illegal immigrants. “We have 35,000 homeless veterans in America today…. We could have built a house for every one of them for 1/100th of what we spent last year on sheltering illegal immigrants,” he said at a meeting in August, Ohio Capital Journal reported.

Notably, according to his financial records, Moreno partially owns several real estate holdings and rental properties. “He has also invested between $750,000 and $1.5 million in two of Yellowstone’s U.S. investment funds, one of which focuses on opportunities in the U.S. housing market,” AP reports.

Border security

Brown supported bipartisan border security legislation earlier this year that would have increased detention capacity and made it harder for people to qualify for asylum, while also allowing migrants claiming credible fear to stay and work in the US. Brown called it “the strongest bipartisan border security bill in the world in decades,” but it was rejected by Senate Republicans.

He also co-authored the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which passed in April and targets illegal fentanyl suppliers in China and Mexican drug cartels that bring it into the US.

Brown said he has also pushed for more dollars to support border agents and help track fentanyl coming across the border and wants to increase access to addiction treatment.

Moreno: The second priority on Moreno’s website is to “secure America’s borders, end the amnesty, and destroy Mexico’s drug cartels.”

“Securing the border does not mean amnesty, reforming our asylum laws, rooting out the drug cartels and finishing the wall,” he said in an Instagram post in 2023.

Moreno, who emigrated from Colombia when he was five (legally, as he often points out), calls for the deportation of all undocumented immigrants — though at one point he did support a path to citizenship for those living here.

Moreno did not support the bipartisan border legislation earlier this year, calling it a “fake border security bill” in an Instagram post in May. He also did not support Brown’s FEND Off Fentanyl Act.

More: As immigration dominates the Senate race in Ohio, Bernie Moreno is leaning on his own background

Gun reform

Brown supported the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law in 2022. Among other things, it improved federal background checks and reduced the “crony loophole,” which barred people convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun.

Brown said he respects the Second Amendment but wants the U.S. to “do more” on gun reform. He has also supported banning assault weapons.

Moreno: Moreno calls himself a “Second Amendment absolutist” and opposes all gun restrictions.

“The Second Amendment is a fundamental, individual right, and our nation’s founding fathers knew exactly what they were doing to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms,” Moreno told Buckeye Firearms, which endorsed Moreno.

Moreno instead calls generally for addressing gun violence by focusing on improving mental health, saying that “people with problems kill people,” though it is unclear how he would do that.

Bipartisanship

Brown: With nearly 18 years in Congress, Brown has a promising track record of working across the aisle. He has helped write or advocate for bipartisan measures such as a bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, and more.

Brown said as he votes on national issues, his focus is on listening to what his constituents want and need in the state and bringing ideas for improvement to D.C.

“I’ve worked with presidents of both parties, I’ve disagreed with presidents of both parties, but I can be counted on to do so in a bipartisan manner,” he said.

Moreno: When asked how he sees himself working across the aisle at a 2023 candidate forum, Moreno said he “rejects the premise of the question.”

“I’m actually going to Washington, D.C., to do the things I just said I was going to do,” he said.

His actions have supported these words. Moreno was outspoken in his opposition to the bipartisan Border Security Act and the law to reduce fentanyl trafficking, apparently viewing both as political ploys.

“I am hopeful that the Senate blocks this deal and prevents it from becoming law and that Joe Biden gets the political cover he is looking for in this election,” he said during a Breitbart interview.