CINCINNATI — In a few weeks, Ohioans will choose their next junior U.S. senator. Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Jon Husted are on the ballot. Both have spent much or most of their adult lives in politics.
I talked with both candidates and asked them the same questions. This is the first in a series of reports over three nights covering their responses to various issues.
WATCH: Sherrod Brown, Jon Husted talk about who they are, why they're running for Ohio's U.S. Senate seat
Who are they?
When asked to define himself, Husted described himself in personal and civic terms.
"Husband, father, grandfather, uh, public servant, and, uh, somebody who just loves Ohio and loves my family," Husted said.
Brown focused on his career and the people he says he has fought for.
"Somebody that spent my career fighting for middle class, fighting for people struggling," Brown said.
Why public service?
Brown pointed to economic inequality as his driving motivation.
"The system is, is rigged more than ever, where people are working harder than ever before. CEOs are making more money, profits are up. The average CEO makes 300 times what the average worker makes, and they don't have workers in this state, citizens in this state don't have a voice, and I want to go back and be that voice," Brown said.
Husted described service as a core value rooted in faith and family.
"We serve the Lord, we serve the public. That's, we serve, we get, we get, um, our joy out of serving other people and making their lives better," Husted said.
He also addressed his relationship with Washington.
"I don't like the Washington culture, but I kind of view it as service. Like I'm going to go there every week. I get on the airplane, I fly there. I go to work, try to get the job done and then fly back home," Husted said.
What do they still want to accomplish?
Brown, who served in the Senate for 32 years, was asked what he did not get to accomplish and wants to return to finish.
"There is no real voice for regular people. I, when I was there, we, we passed the PAC Act that I wrote, named after an Ohioan that, um, made sure that people exposed to burn pits in, in Iraq and Afghanistan, that soldiers, uh, got the healthcare they earned. Uh, we passed the Butch Lewis Act named for a Cincinnatian who lost his, who was about to lose his pension, restoring 100,000 pensions. I mean, there are always those challenges, but people don't have a voice in the system," Brown said.
"We don't have anybody that will fight back," Brown said.
Husted cited fiscal responsibility and a specific piece of legislation as top priorities.
"I want to restore fiscal sanity for my children, grandchildren, for your children, grandchildren, for all the, the families of Ohio. We, we need to have, we need to preserve this great nation that we have," Husted said.
He also highlighted what he called the Upward Mobility Act.
"Right now, we've created a poverty trap in America created by the federal government. I want to end it. That issue alone is worth me going through any inconvenience of running for office and going through all this because that's going to help millions of people get out of poverty," Husted said.
This is the first installment in a three-part series. Wednesday's report covers what both candidates have to say about data centers in Ohio, an issue that has become important this election cycle.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
