Despite criticizing economy, Ohio GOP U.S. Sen. nominee Moreno bought five homes last year

On the campaign trail this year, like every year, the economy is top of mind for Ohio voters and candidates.

Republican Ohio U.S. Senate nominee Bernie Moreno regularly talks about how expensive it is to go to McDonalds or the jolt of surprise when you see the grocery bill.

“And you asked the cashier, did you add something by mistake?” Moreno told supporters at an event in Chillicothe this month, “Because there’s no way the groceries that I just bought could possibly be that price.”

“Look at the price of steak, of chicken and pork, right?” he added, “It’s so high, that you look at it and go, you know, maybe we should have cereal for dinner tonight.”

When it comes to economic appeals, he’s preaching to the choir. In Chillicothe, his reference to the cost of meat was met with wide eyes and nodding heads. After campaign events, attendees regularly bring up the cost of groceries or worry about how their kids can start families of their own saddled with higher interest mortgages.

“The real American dream,” Moreno said in February, “is that you can go to a good high school, you can graduate, you can get a good job. You can get married, you can afford a home, you can afford a car. You can afford to have kids. Those kids can go to good schools in safe communities. And then you can retire debt-free and the government is in the background.”

“That’s the American Dream that we’re going to restore,” Moreno insisted. But his financial disclosure depicts a person far removed from the kind of concerns his supporters express.

Despite economic headwinds like higher interest rates, Moreno-connected entities have purchased five homes in the past year. He was also involved in the purchase of a nearly 25-acre parcel of undeveloped land next door to a popular outlet mall in Sunbury, Ohio.

Meanwhile, Moreno was able to loan his campaign $4.5 million — $1.5 million of which came from CF Bank. The campaign’s most recent quarterly report, which covers April to June, indicates he has not begun to repay himself from supporters’ contributions, but the financial disclosure, filed in August, makes no mention of the loan.

Nesting dolls

In 2024, Bernie Moreno reported earning just $15,000 in salary, but if elected, he will likely be among the wealthiest men serving in Congress because of his business holdings. The company Quiver Quantitative tracks politicians’ estimated net worth thanks to disclosure requirements in the STOCK Act. Following that data, four U.S. Senators crack the $100 million mark. According to their estimates, Moreno would be the fifth.

Despite filing a disclosure of he and wife’s finances, though, Moreno’s exact net worth remains murky. The financial disclosure requires candidates and officeholders to list their assets, but the value of those assets is presented as a range — one which grows broader as the value increases.

Tallying together his holdings, Moreno reports assets worth at least $38 million or as much as $172.7 million. His reported liabilities amount to $2.75 million on the low end or $11.5 million on the high end.

Parsing the report is complicated further by the parade of businesses entities stacked like nesting dolls within the family trust. Hyperbole Investments holds stakes in tech companies based in Ohio and Israel. M6 Realty owns a building worth $1-5 million in Middleburg, Ohio that earned between $100,000 and $1 million in rent. M7 Realty’s empty land in Hudson, Ohio earned $15,000 to $50,000 in rent, and M20 Realty shelled out $9.5 million for the Delaware County parcel near the Tangier Outlet Mall.

In Moreno’s 2023 report, Aguila Calva Properties (that’s bald eagle in Spanish) owned a condo in Washington, D.C. and Kylo Properties owned a home in Avon, Ohio. This year, similarly named entities purchased two new homes. Aguila Calva Properties Ohio bought a $675,000 home in Westlake July 1 this year. Kylo Properties Columbus bought a $1.2 million home north of New Albany in June with a golf simulator in the basement.

Previously, Butterfly Properties reported owning a condo in New York City, but this year, the company reported a different property in Eastchester, New York. The $2.2 million home has an elevator and a walk-in wine cellar with room for more than 1,500 bottles. Similarly, in 2023 Pangolin Properties reported a condo in Columbus, but as of this June, it owns a $612,000 home in Dixon, California.

The most valuable new piece of real estate is a Coconut Grove, Florida condo owned by Live More, LLC valued at $5 to $25 million. That’s in addition to the previously reported and similarly valued home across Biscayne Bay on Key Largo. According to the filing, Moreno owns 43% of that company, and the property generated between $50,000 and $100,000 in rent.

Meanwhile, in 2023 Moreno reported owning an unimproved parcel of land in Zapotal, Costa Rica through a company called Yellowstone. The AP has reported Yellowstone is a private equity firm tied to a construction firm owned by Moreno’s brother. That parcel no longer appears on Moreno’s disclosure, but his Yellowstone holdings have grown substantially. Last year, he reported a stake worth $500,000 to $1 million that generated more than $71,000. In the current report, he claims holdings worth $1 million to $5 million which generated more than $180,000.

Who owns the companies?

Even the complex chains of ownership don’t necessarily tell the whole story. According to Moreno’s disclosure, for many of these entities he and his wife own just 1% of the business entity. Still, Moreno lists himself as “manager” for the entities in a separate portion of his disclosure.

Despite listing himself as holding just a 1% stake in Live More, LLC, which purchased the $5 million plus condo in Coconut Grove, according to Florida business records, Live More has been incorporated in Florida since 2017. Bernie Moreno is listed as its manager and registered agent. The principal address for the company is the family’s home in Key Largo.

Moreno did not respond to series of questions about why he has structured his holdings in this way and who holds the other 98% of the companies. Generally speaking, the Ohio business filings aren’t much help, but the initial filing for Pangolin Properties lists his son, Adam Moreno. Aside from Live More, there are four entities that purchased homes in the past year. Moreno has four children.

By comparison

Moreno’s opponent in November also published his financial disclosure this month, but for Democratic Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, the timeframe is different. While Moreno’s start and end points are tied to the point at which he became a candidate, sitting officeholders file disclosures based on the calendar year. Brown’s latest filing covers 2023.

Brown’s congressional salary is the chief source of income for he and his wife. He also reported about $28,000 in retirement from the state of Ohio. In terms of assets, the couple has between $484,000 and $1.16 million — the bulk of that coming from pension or retirement funds they don’t appear to be drawing down yet. Their reported liabilities include two mortgages and amount to $200,000 to $500,000.

This story was originally published by the Ohio Capital Journal