Moreno's race was called by the Associated Press about an hour after the polls closed, and Moreno cruised to a substantial victory. The race was a bit of a microcosm of what Republicans need to do nationwide. Moreno enjoyed good turnout with Election Day voters, but MAGA voters have figured out that, at least for now, we have to play the hand we are dealt and use early voting and absentee voting to our advantage. In the case of Moreno's race, that is just what happened. Moreno's next closest opponent, State Sen. Matt Dolan (R-OH), was even expected to do better than Moreno with those early and absentee voters.

So, how did those early and absentee votes affect the race? In Ohio, election law allows for early and absentee votes to be scanned and processed before election day but not counted. They are counted when the polls close on election day. The 231,546 GOP early votes that were cast, along with absentee ballots that were requested and returned, were then counted. When election day votes began to be counted, Moreno was up 39.5 percent to Dolan's 38 percent. Just nine minutes later, as more election day votes began to be counted, Bernie Moreno pulled away and eventually won. 

While election laws vary from state to state, and thus, counting of early, mail-in, and absentee votes begins at different times, the example of vote banking in Ohio is something Republicans must get their arms around in 2024. Newly elected co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Lara Trump, recently told Fox News Channel's Maria Bartiromo that the RNC will be embracing an "all of the above" mindset when it comes to getting and banking votes. She rightly stated:

"We’ve been playing checkers, and the Democrats have been playing chess. Unfortunately, we don’t have one day of voting, we don’t have paper ballots, we don’t have voter ID everywhere. So we have to play the hand that we’re dealt." 

Essential you inform Republicans to vote early, by mail or in person. Do as Democrats do regarding elections and voting but do more and better.

— Robert C. (@bobjrfarm1) March 16, 2024

Lara Trump also emphasized that the RNC would be ramping up early voting, mail-in, and absentee voting efforts, as well as legal ballot harvesting where it can be done. She added:

"That way, we have votes banked as we head into Election Day, and we’re not playing catchup on Nov. 5 with the Democrats. We need to be doing legal ballot harvesting – something that has never been done by the RNC, but I can promise you will be a huge part of what we’re planning to do."

Whether it is the Ohio election results, the new blood at the RNC in the form of Chairman Michael Whatley and co-Chair Lara Trump, or a combination thereof, Republicans seem to be finally paying attention. Whatley himself said recently:

“We want to make sure that people have a plan on how they are going to go out and vote. Over 50 percent of American voters will vote before Election Day. We need to make sure that we are communicating with them, that we are talking to them before they go vote.”

In a letter to RNC members, Whatley also outlined a new "Grow the Vote" initiative to target low-propensity voters. It all sounds good. But Republicans don't just need to play the game as well as Democrats; we have to be better at it. Win elections. Then you can change the rules. 

Newly elected RNC Co-Chair Lara Trump says she will make sure that the RNC devotes "MASSIVE resources" to election integrity.pic.twitter.com/JM66m2NYlj

— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) March 13, 2024