Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan - the moderate Republican who lost to Trump-backed J.D. Vance in a primary - is now setting his sights on Democrat Sherrod Brown's U.S. Senate seat in 2024. 

'I am unapologetically committed to putting the needs of Ohio first and delivering results as our next U.S. Senator,' Dolan said in a statement. 'With the courage of my convictions, clarity of purpose and a resolute focus on the challenges and opportunities facing our beloved state, I am ready to lead.'

He also launched a fresh attack on Brown, who is expected to run again in 2024. 

'A lot can change in thirty years, but in that time Sherrod Brown's commitment to his party has remained the same,' Dolan said.

'Together with Joe Biden, Sherrod Brown has kicked America's problems down the road for a generation. Their time is up.' 

Brown's seat is seen as a top target for a GOP pick-up in 2024 in increasingly red Ohio. Democrats will need to defend their slim 51-49 majority in a year that they've got twice as many Senate seats up for reelection as Republicans.

Brown is one of three Senate Democrats who will have to defend a seat in a state won by Donald Trump by at least eight points in 2020. 

Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team, finished third in the GOP primary topped by Vance. He tapped his own personal fortune to launch that effort, donating and loaning more than $10 million to his campaign. 

Vance bested Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan 53.3 to 46.7 percent in the general election.

The race to replace retired Sen. Rob Portman garnered a crowded field of Republicans, and the race to take on Brown, who's held the seat since 2007, could make for another crowded GOP primary. 

In 2022 Dolan was a rare candidate who did not tie himself to former President Trump by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election. 

'America's challenges demand the focus of experienced leaders who reject fictional grievances and are ready to do the hard work of getting results to make our future better than the past,' he said in an announcement Tuesday. 

The business lawyer and former prosecutor is in his second four-year term in the Ohio Senate. He previously served three terms in the Ohio House.