As one of the most important battleground Senate races in the country, where Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown is hoping to hold his seat in red Ohio—and possibly majority control of the chamber along with it—Democrats are deeply invested in Tuesday’s Republican primary that will decide who Brown will be running against.

Now, they’ve literally invested in it too. A group called Duty and Country, funded by Senate Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC, is spending roughly $2.7 million in the state’s Republican primary to tilt the outcome in favor of far-right, Trump-endorsed candidate Bernie Moreno. State Sen. Matt Dolan, who has been endorsed by Gov. Mike DeWine, has taken the lead in the polls, but Moreno is close behind, with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose trailing.

It’s not the first time in 2024 that Democrats have elevated a Republican Senate candidate—that, too, happened just a few weeks ago in California. Why would Democrats throw valuable resources behind their adversaries?

It’s all part of a strategic gambit that Democrats embraced, somewhat newly, in the 2022 midterm cycle, and it’s not without its critics. The usually impartial New York Times called it “an enormously risky strategy” two years ago, after Democrats waded into a handful of Republican primaries to elevate more extreme, far-right candidates. Those extremist candidates, according to Dems’ own polling, would turn off swing voters, making them weaker candidates in a general election contest versus Democrats.

Despite those detractors, the strategy proved remarkably successful, especially in the upper Midwest. In Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race, Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro spent money to elevate eventual Republican primary winner Doug Mastriano, who held a........

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