Terra Goodnight · January 2, 2024

Ohio Senate Race: Social Listening Report for 12/31/23

Donald Trump’s endorsement of Bernie Moreno for US Senate drove the candidate ahead of Frank LaRose (but well behind Senator Sherrod Brown) in terms of online mentions during the latter half of December. Here is our report on how the Senate race played out on social media from December 15-31, 2023.

Mentions by Platform

Candidate Share of Mentions

Top Keywords

Trending Topics

The major story driving online conversation around Ohio’s Senate race was Donald Trump’s endorsement of Bernie Moreno. Nearly 26% of all mentions in the two week period came on that one day. Bernie Moreno surpassed LaRose in mentions for the period, the first time since we began tracking.

The other spike in conversation arrived on December 29, when news of Governor DeWine veto of anti-trans legislation arrived and was met by statements from each of the GOP Senate candidates.

Most Shared Links

• Sherrod Brown 12/15 tweet: “I officially filed to be on the ballot and I’m ready to win in 2024.” – 1300 shares
• Sherrod Brown’s Act Blue Page – Sherrod Brown – Donate via ActBlue – 1150 shares
• Sahil Kapur 12/19 tweet: “Ohio Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno gets the “Complete and Total Endorsement” from Trump in the race against Sherrod Brown. Former president’s full statement:” – 1080 shares
• Bernie Moreno 12/19 tweet – I am honored and thankful to have the endorsement of @realDonaldTrump for United States Senate from the Great State of Ohio. With President Trump back in the White House, we will Make America Great Again! – 699 shares

• JD Vance 12/19 tweet – “Donald Trump endorses Bernie Moreno in the Ohio Senate race! @berniemoreno Big news. Congrats to Bernie on earning the endorsement. Now time to win the trust of the people of Ohio, and I’m sure Bernie is up to the task!” – 447 shares

TWITTER

Top Tweet (most comments, likes and retweets)

#1 Sherrod Brown – 13.2K engagements

NEWS

2,440 stories (down 24%)

Most Viral News Stories

• Politico – The latest front in the Gaetz vs. McCarthy fight: House primaries  1150 social shares
• Associated Press – Ohio’s GOP governor vetoes ban on gender-affirming care and transgender athletes in girls’ sports – 962 social shares
• Fox Business – Democrats haunted by past support for signature Biden law as seniors face ‘dramatic rise’ in Medicare costs – 514 social shares
• The Federalist – Media Lie About This Leftist-Linked Voter Roll ‘Maintenance’ Group To Protect Democrats’ Election Machine – 501 social shares

• Politico – Senate GOP enters critical stretch for fending off bad candidates – 498 social shares

REDDIT

232 mentions (down 11%)

Top Posts (most engagement)

• r/inthenews – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown says he’d vote to legalize recreational marijuana at the federal level – 1090 engagements
• r/Ohio – Frank LaRose needs money for his Senate race. An Illinois GOP megadonor just gave him a financial lifeline – 609 engagements
• r/VoteDEM – Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown says he’d vote to legalize recreational marijuana at the federal level – 469 engagements
• r/Ohio – Donald Trump endorses Bernie Moreno in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race – 391 engagements

• r/Ohio – Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose files petitions for official U.S. Senate candidacy – 330 engagements