COLUMBUS, Ohio — Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is back, finally announcing his long-anticipated campaign to reclaim a seat in Congress. Ohio Republicans are ready to fight.
"I didn’t plan to run for office again, but when I see what’s going on, I know I can do something about it for Ohio," Brown said in his announcement. "That’s why I’m running for Senate. Because even in these challenging times, I still believe if you stand up for workers, treat people with respect and always fight for Ohio, you can actually make a difference."
Brown, who lost his seat in 2024 to Sen. Bernie Moreno, is returning to the political spotlight, and the stakes are high.
"Ohio could very well be the tipping point state for the entire Senate," said Ohio Democratic strategist David Pepper.
Ohio Democratic Party members, including Pepper, say that the senator's history of supporting workers will be key to his campaign.
"I think Sherrod’s message, which really gets sort of the wherewithal of every Ohio family in a time where people are really struggling and stressed, I think it's gonna really hit home," Pepper said.
He will face off against Sen. Jon Husted, whom President Donald Trump and the rest of the Ohio GOP, like party leader Tony Schroeder, are backing.
"Senator Husted's devotion to the conservative values that we just got done voting for, for President Trump last November, are going to wind up carrying the day," Schroeder said.
Husted was appointed to his role by Gov. Mike DeWine this January and has already raised $6 million.
"We just got done telling Senator Brown that we didn't want him to represent us in D.C. anymore, and we're about to do it again," Schroeder said. "He's carried every bit of the woke agenda in D.C. — the open border was a huge issue in Ohio, absolutely huge, and he voted for all of it."
Brown’s campaign has already begun targeting Husted for his votes to make massive cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
Husted’s team sent us this statement from spokesperson Tyson Shepard:
"Sherrod Brown’s recent announcement means Ohioans will face a clear choice in 2026. For 30 years, he has imposed Washington’s problems on Ohio, pushing radical liberal policies that have left a lasting burden on the next generation. Jon Husted offers the opposite approach, applying Ohio’s values and solutions to fix a broken Washington. The challenges our nation faces are the same ones Husted has helped our state confront and overcome, championing the values he learned growing up in northwest Ohio: hard work, personal responsibility, family, faith, freedom and patriotism."
Even though Brown over-performed Democrats all over the country, including Kamala Harris by eight points in Ohio, he lost by four points to Moreno.
"Do you think that was Trump-related? Do you think that was Moreno-related? Do you think that was talking points related? How does he fix that for this election?" I asked Pepper.
"I mean it's a combination of things," Pepper said. "if you ever lose, you don't say, 'Well, we should do everything the same.' Of course, the Trump turnout mattered. We clearly have to do better in our cities."
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