Bernie Moreno (R-OH), a former Cleveland area car dealership owner and blockchain entrepreneur, defeated U.S Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to become the first Latino Senate member from Ohio, helping to shift control of the chamber to the GOP. At one time, the first time Senator, ran a luxury car dealership group that encompassed 15 dealerships, representing 30 brands across four states. Moreno co-founded the blockchain firm ChampTitles in 2018, which aims to eliminate the need for states to issue paper titles for cars. 

The two faced off in what was an often contentious and close race, with Moreno casting Brown as “too liberal for Ohio” and Brown using the old “shady car salesman” trope against Moreno.  At a town hall Moreno, who said he sold his companies before running for the Ohio Senate seat to avoid a conflict of interest commented  “One of the things I firmly believe in is not just to run for office and set an example as a senator, which means be completely free of any conflicts of interest, I don’t believe that senators should trade stocks, should own companies. You’ve got to be completely clear, completely clean, of any conflicts of interest.”