Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, scion of Republican family, backs Democrat Sherrod Brown for Senate

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, scion of one of the state’s best-known Republican families, threw his support Sunday behind Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in his hotly contested reelection race against GOP nominee Bernie Moreno.

Taft, 82, made known his intention to vote for Brown over Moreno, a Donald Trump-backed Cleveland businessman, in a letter to the editor of the Dayton Daily News.

The grandson of “Mr. Republican” Robert A. Taft Sr. and great-grandson of William Howard Taft, the only person in American history to have been president and chief justice of the United States, praised Brown in the letter without mentioning Moreno.

Taft cited, among the reasons for his decision, Brown’s collaboration with U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, on behalf of the Dayton area, including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; Brown’s 25 years of experience in public office; and Brown’s committee assignments as a result of his senior status in the Senate.

“Although not in agreement with Senator Brown on every policy issue, I believe Ohioans very much need a highly effective, experienced advocate in the U.S. Senate — someone who is squarely focused on both Ohio’s and America’s needs,” Taft wrote.

It remained unclear how Taft’s backing might play at the ballot box given Ohio’s hard shift to the right in recent elections. The endorsement comes as Brown works to attract independent and Republican crossover voters in the record-setting $400 million-plus contest.

Moreno’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Trump supporters now hold sway within the state GOP and the former president’s endorsements have eclipsed those of mainstream Ohio Republicans in recent elections.

Trump’s backing elevated Moreno to victory in a crowded primary field this spring, despite both GOP Gov. Mike DeWine and recently retired Republican Sen. Rob Portman endorsing a rival candidate, for example, and boosted first-time politician JD Vance to a Senate victory over the objections of a cadre of state Republican leaders.

The endorsement is particularly noteworthy, though, given that Bob Taft is the only politician in Brown’s long political career to ever defeat him in an election. Taft beat Brown in his 1990 bid for reelection as secretary of state.