Three takeaways from Ohio's Republican Senate debate

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Three Republican candidates vying to unseat Democrat Sherrod Brown in the U.S. Senate met face-to-face Monday night.

State Sen. Matt Dolan, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and businessman Bernie Moreno participated in their first debate of the election cycle in Cleveland, as seen on NBC4 and other Nexstar stations across Ohio. The candidates covered topics including abortion, former President Donald Trump, and border security.

Here are three main takeaways.

Abortion

In November, Ohio voters established the right to abortion in the state constitution with 56.6% of the vote. The three candidates were asked about their support of a federal abortion ban.

Moreno said he is not using the word "ban" but instead advocating to make it less expensive to have and raise kids and to ensure women have access to healthcare, birth control and contraception. But he added that he wants no federal funding for abortion and to establish "common sense restrictions" after 15 weeks into a pregnancy.

Dolan called abortion a difficult issue for everyone. He said he has a pro-life record that he claims reduced abortions in Ohio by 37% and that his opponents have been disingenuous and all over the place on the topic of abortion -- which he claimed could give Brown the win in November. Like Moreno, Dolan expressed support for a 15-week restriction.

LaRose also said he doesn't use the word "ban." He said that he fights for the sanctity of life and that will not change, but that there needs to be compassion around the issue. He said that there needs to be a minimum federal standard but did not provide a cutoff like his opponents did.

"We have to understand that any woman who's facing an unplanned pregnancy is by definition facing a crisis in her life," LaRose said. "So, it's not enough to be pro-birth, we have to truly be pro-life."

Trump and Jan. 6

The candidates duked it out over Trump -- who has endorsed Moreno -- and the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That part of the debate was kicked off by showing two deleted tweets from Moreno calling the rioters criminals and morons, contrasted with a statement he made a few months later calling them "political prisoners."

Moreno responded by saying that the people who committed crimes on Jan. 6 were criminals worthy of punishment, but he said disproportionate responses to Jan. 6 and BLM protests during 2020 show there is a "two-tier justice system."

Dolan -- who recently criticized his opponents for their response to Jan. 6 -- said Moreno's response was a "political phony answer." He contrasted his consistency on the event to his opponents' lack of consistency.

"Jan. 6 was a bad day, and I said it then," Dolan said. "Jan. 6 is a bad day, and I'm saying it now."

LaRose was shown a tweet he had made referring to the violence on Jan. 6 as a "flagrant disregard of the law" and "un-American." He said that those who committed violence should face justice but that people who weren't committing violence are being used as political prisoners.

Border security

On the issues of immigration and border security, candidates were asked what they would do to secure the Mexican border and whether they would support mass deportation.

Moreno said that what is happening at the border is "treasonous" and "an invasion of our country." He said that there should be no forms of amnesty offered and anybody in the country illegally should be deported.

Dolan said he has been consistent in his stance that the border should be secured. He said Moreno has been inconsistent on border security, claiming that his opponent worked with former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg to ask former President Barack Obama for a path to citizenship and that Moreno wanted a "path to residency," going so far as to claim that Moreno received awards in Cleveland for his positions on immigration. He said that Moreno now wants to deport children.

When asked if he agrees with calls for military intervention including drone strikes in Mexico, LaRose responded "100%."

"The definition of a foreign terrorist organization is a group that's willing to kill our fellow Americans," LaRose said. "These cartels are killing over 200 Americans a day with the fentanyl that they're bringing into this country.

"We must define these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and use the full force of the U.S. Military and the U.S. Federal Government to kill them so that they can't kill our fellow Americans."

Moreno responded to LaRose by calling his claims "irresponsible rhetoric."