U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) is claiming that his predecessor left him with “a mess.”
“By the way,” Mr. Moreno said of former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, “he never called me, he never conceded, closed all of his offices, closed all of his constituent cases, and left a total mess for us to clean up.”
Mr. Moreno visited Tuscarawas County on Saturday to endorse Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Mr. Moreno said it was his first opportunity to be at a public event in Ohio since being sworn in in January.
Mr. Moreno beat Mr. Brown, a longtime senator, in November in what became one of the most expensive U.S. Senate races ever. Mr. Moreno’s comments come amid a time of uncertainty for Mr. Brown’s political future.
Ohioans will vote for a governor and senator next year, and Mr. Brown hasn’t ruled out either race, but he also hasn’t confirmed ambitions for either race.
On Monday, Mr. Brown announced his next venture: the Dignity of Work Institute, an economic think tank that will be used to study the current state of the American economy and influence policy change at the federal level.
“I’m not here to get involved in political attacks, period,” Mr. Brown said on Monday about Mr. Moreno’s comments. “I think if you talk to people around Ohio for the last 15 years, you will hear them say that they had never seen the quality of constituent services that we had in the way we did outreach.”
Mr. Moreno’s comments come during a time when both Ohio senators, and other senators across the United States, have seen an influx in communications from constituents.
In the past month, constituents have expressed frustrations over full voicemail inboxes and delayed responses from Ohio’s senators. A spokesman for Mr. Moreno’s office said Mr. Brown closing his constituent cases is not related to the influx in calls to his office.
Not every call or email a congressmen’s office receives is considered casework. According to the Congressional Research Service, casework often refers to constituent requests seeking assistance from federal agencies, but congressional offices can have different definitions of what constitutes casework. Primary recipients of casework services are usually constituents residing in a senator’s state.
Liaison activities between the federal government and local governments and businesses concerned with the effects of federal legislation could be considered casework by congressional offices. Other examples include helping communities and nonprofit organizations seeking grants or other assistance.
Carrie Hartman, a Democrat and president of Toledo City Council, represented Toledo at the National League of Cities conference in Washington earlier this month. Through the conference portal, attendees can request to schedule time to meet with their legislators. Ms. Hartman said she requested to meet both senators and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo). She said she received no confirmation of a meeting with the senators until council’s lobbyist reached out to their offices.
“Our meeting was on Tuesday in the morning, and we found out about it Monday afternoon,” Ms. Hartman said. “We were told we had a meeting with [Sen. Jon] Husted (R., Ohio) at 10 a.m. It was a meet-and-greet, and then we were told we would have a meeting with Moreno’s staff at 11 a.m.”
Ms. Hartman said Mr. Moreno did join the meeting that was combined with councilmen from Cleveland, Cincinnati, and other Ohio cities.
Ms. Hartman said the representatives from Toledo only had a few minutes to express their concerns to Mr. Husted during the meet-and-greet. Mr. Husted’s office did not immediately respond to request from The Blade for comment.
Ms. Hartman said her primary concern was whether the city was going to receive the federal funding it was awarded under previous presidential administrations. Under the current Trump Administration, many federal grants have been frozen as the administration looks to cut excessive waste and government spending.
Ms. Hartman said Ms. Kaptur was quick to respond with a request for a meeting and thoroughly discussed what she could do to help.
“It was so easy to get a meeting with her, and it was in her office,” Ms. Hartman said. “And we sat down at an actual table with the congresswoman and her staff. She even gave us water, and we talked in depth about Toledo and what she can do to help us.”
Ms. Hartman went to the National League of Cities conference last year and said she met with Mr. Brown and his staff in a conference room. She did not meet former Ohio senator and current Vice President JD Vance last year, but his staff did meet with her.
Ms. Hartman said last year’s meetings were very productive. The city was able to get a grant to help to get a Coast Guard training center in Toledo, although funding is currently up in the air on the project. Mr. Brown was also able to earmark funding for city projects, Ms. Hartman said.
According to his website, Mr. Moreno has offices in Washington, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. According to Mr. Husted’s website, he has an office in Washington. Unlike Mr. Moreno, Mr. Husted was appointed to the Senate seat in January to fill Mr. Vance’s vacancy.
Both senators have phone numbers listed for each office on their website as well as contact forms to reach each senator.
First Published March 26, 2025, 11:00 a.m.
