Ohio businessman and GOP Senate candidate Bernie Moreno scored a coveted endorsement on Tuesday from former president Donald Trump amid his 2024 primary bid to take on Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown. The development is a major blow to Moreno’s Republican rivals, who include Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state senator Matt Dolan.

Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, which has stayed neutral in the contest thus far, signaled Tuesday that the former president’s endorsement will help Moreno in next year’s March primary. “President Trump’s endorsement is the most powerful endorsement in politics, so this will certainly be a huge benefit to Bernie Moreno,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s communications director, Mike Berg, said in a statement to NR.