Photo by David Skolnick U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, right, talks with John Gamble of Winona during a Tuesday campaign stop at the United Steelworkers Local 2155 union hall in Niles.

NILES, Ohio — Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said his reelection effort comes down to who voters trust: him or Bernie Moreno, his Republican challenger.

“I’ll put (my) record up any day against Bernie Moreno,” said Brown, D-Ohio, after a Tuesday campaign stop at the United Steelworkers Local 2155 union hall in Niles. “Cheating his employees, having to pay $400,000 in back wages, always looking out for himself. That’s a pretty clear comparison to voters of the Mahoning Valley.”

Brown reiterated points made during the campaign that Moreno settled wage theft lawsuits after a Massachusetts court ordered him to pay more than $400,000 to two former employees for failing to pay overtime in violation of that state’s labor laws and for selling the Buick Envision, a vehicle made in China when Moreno was a car dealer, despite saying a number of times he refused to do so.

Moreno’s campaign has said the businessman never said he didn’t sell the Envision, but refused to take orders for more and sold only those left in his inventory after General Motors shut down the Lordstown assembly plant in March 2019. Also, Moreno said he didn’t handle his own payroll and Brown lies about his business dealings.

“It’s a question of whom do you trust,” Brown said.

Brown said GM closed Lordstown because of its “greed and politicians of both parties and presidents of both parties that sell out workers. Bernie Moreno is part of that crowd. He’s wrong and that’s why people don’t trust him and that’s what this should be about.”

Moreno tried to save the Lordstown plant by offering to buy a fleet of 150,000 Chevrolet Cruzes — the last car produced at the facility — for a ride-hailing service. GM rejected the proposal, closed the plant and sold the property to Lordstown Motors, which left the property. The plant is now owned by Foxconn.

Reagan McCarthy, Moreno’s spokeswoman, said: “Sherrod Brown and his allies are stooping to the politics of personal destruction because they know they can’t defend his extreme left-wing voting record of voting with the (Joe) Biden-(Kamala) Harris administration nearly 100% of the time. Brown has repeatedly supported mass amnesty for illegals and the radical anti-American energy agenda, which both hurt Ohio workers. The last thing Brown wants is a policy debate because he knows Ohioans will reject his liberal record.”

Brown is seeking his fourth six-year term in the Senate while Moreno has never held elected office. Ohio is among a small number of Senate races that will determine which political party has the majority in the upper chamber.

Asked if this was his toughest election, Brown said, “This is the most expensive. I have a career of standing up to the drug companies, standing up to Wall Street, standing up to the oil companies and the companies that have so much power. They’re spending tens of millions of dollars against me.”

In an Aug. 7 interview with The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle, sister publications of The Times Leader, Moreno said Brown has failed Ohio and is “trying to reinvent himself as something completely different” than what he is.

“He’s a complete liar,” Moreno said. “He’s fake, he’s tired, he’s old just like the campaign he’s running.”

Brown at Tuesday’s event painted Moreno as the candidate who cannot be trusted.

“It’s the contrast,” he said.

Brown spoke to about 75 people at the USW hall in Niles.

Brown talked about the Butch Lewis Act, which was included as a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2022. Brown sponsored the provision that secured pension relief for more than 100,000 Ohioans that were in endangered pension plans for 30 years.

“It’s what happens when you win elections,” Brown said. “It happens when you vote for people like me and you vote for people who are going to be on your side.”

Norm Wemet, president of the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, said: “No one works harder than Sherrod Brown when it comes to fighting to protect the pensions and retirements of American workers.”

In a statement, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said Brown’s “record is a clear indication of his priorities and alignment with the most progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Ohioans aren’t buying it. Sherrod Brown and his radical allies don’t align with Ohio’s seniors and workers.”