Republican beats incumbent senator in Ohio

One of the most critical and intensely-watched Senate contests in America has been called for the Republican challenger.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown faced the fight of his life in this contest against Donald Trump-backed businessman Bernie Moreno. Trump has broadly been expected throughout the election cycle to carry Ohio easily, giving Brown a difficult path to re-election.

The result was called by the Associated Press.

Holding onto Brown's seat was a top priority for Senate Democrats, who faced an unfavorable map in this Senate cycle and were already guaranteed to lose the seat from departing Sen. Joe Manchin in West Virginia. The Ohio Senate race became a top spending destination for the campaign arms of both parties.

Moreno stirred controversy late in the presidential cycle over comments about abortion and suburban women he made at a town hall.

“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters,” said Moreno. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50 — I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’”

As Ohio Democrats fought to protect Brown, they also tried to generate support for Issue 1, a measure that would abolish partisan gerrymandering in the state and allow fair legislative and congressional redistricting by an independent commission.