Republicans officially took control of the U.S. Senate tonight after a big win in Ohio.
In an upset, businessman Bernie Moreno has successfully secured the Ohio Senate seat, beating incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Moreno, 57, was able to keep up with Brown by self-funding his way through one of the most expensive races this election cycle. He recently said the Democratic senator is “too liberal” for the state which has been trending red.
Prior to his run for senator, Moreno sold the majority of his business to devote his attention to his new calling as a politician.
The newly-elected senator was born in Bogota, Columbia and became an American citizen at age 18. Moreno believes, “All elected officials should strive to create a growing middle class where the American Dream is accessible to anyone, regardless of their background,” and has centered his campaign around making this possible.
Moreno’s victory marks the second Senate seat of the election to be flipped from Democratic occupancy to Republican. Earlier in the evening, Republican Jim Justice won West Virginia’s Senate race, taking away the seat that had previously been held by Sen. Joe Manchin.