OH-SEN: Sherrod Brown to run for U.S. Senate in 2026, challenging Jon Husted

[In It to Win It]

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Democrat Sherrod Brown has decided to run in 2026 for U.S. Senate, attempting a return to the office that he lost last year after a savagely fought reelection campaign, according to Ohio labor leaders Brown told of his thinking.

Brown’s decision, which comes after months of speculation about his political future, gives Ohio Democrats perhaps their best hope of unseating incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Columbus-area Republican appointed to the job earlier this year.

The winner of next year’s Senate campaign will only serve for two years before there’s another election for the seat in 2028. However, Brown’s entry in the race immediately propels Ohio’s U.S. Senate campaign to near the top of Senate Democrats’ priority races next year as they make an uphill attempt to flip the four GOP-held seats needed to win back control of the Senate in 2027.

Brown lost his bid for a fourth Senate term last year to now-U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican, in a race that cost the two sides nearly half a billion dollars in total. Brown ran about 2.5 percentage points ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, but he lost to Moreno by about 4 percentage points, as Republican now-President Donald Trump won Ohio by more than 11 percentage points.

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/08/sherrod-brown-to-run-for-us-senate-in-2026-challenging-jon-husted.html

[Ninga]

1. I hope he has a new team that understand how powerful social media can be in messaging. Praying. Fingers cross.

[Quiet Em]

2. I'm very happy to hear this.

I was hoping he would run again.

[CTyankee]

3. I always liked Sherrod. He always seemed serious and very credible to me. He strikes me as a good guy.

[Sneederbunk]

4. Like Cooper, another quality candidate.

Things are looking up.

[Xavier Breath]

5. Hopefully, Trump's absence on the '26 ballot and Husted's proximity to milquetoast DeWine will suppress MAGA turnout...

sufficiently to get him across the finish line. Throw some buyer's remorse in for good measure, too.

[SSJVegeta]

6. His success has always been as a working class populist

The more he harnesses that appeal, the better he will do.

I think Moreno really just won off of Trumps coattails. Without them, Used is probably toast.

[ancianita]

7. Go, Sherrod!

I donated to him last time, and will donate every single time he runs. OH folks better wake up.

[Figarosmom]

8. Good

He should not have lost in the first place.

[orleans]

9. why is it only a two year term? nt

[JMCKUSICK]

10. Replacing the remainder of JD Vance seat term

[orleans]

14. thank you! nt

[mahina]

11. Well, there is some cheerful news!!!!! Now we have to help him - a lot.

Bring back the bat!
(Howard Dean era reference)

It was a very motivating little bit of electrons

God bless him! Oh, I feel much happier today having read this. I might just need to go to Ohio, or something. I never thought I would say that.

[DFW]

12. He called me, and we talked for a while, and I did donate the max last year, but was somewhat disappointed

I explained that for me to donate to him, I had to earn four times that amount in gross salary to be able to do it. He of course, had no idea, etc etc., so I asked him if he even know how many Americans Abroad there were, and he guessed 250,000 to 300,000. There might even be 200,000 Americans abroad from Ohio alone (and probably a quarter of them in Canada). Estimates range from 5 million to over 9 million, with 9 million closer to the true number. I asked him that if he got re-elected, if he would look at legislation making RBT the law of the land? He said he would look into it, and dropped the subject. I could tell he didn't give a rat's ass, and that's OK if he had other priorities, but I would have appreciated a little candor here. "Look, I have more urgent issues on my mind for now, and to be honest with you, it will have to take a back seat, etc. etc." There are exactly two countries left on earth that do NOT recognize residence-based taxation (RBT). They are Eritrea and the USA. I told him, if you want me to contribute 8% of my gross income to your campaign, can't I get the courtesy of being heard on how to reduce the burden a little? Of 9 million Americans Abroad, there might be 5 million of voting age, and of those, probably 2 million voting Democrats. Is THAT a donor base you can safely choose to ignore? Well, apparently so. As much as I'd love to see Vance's old seat flipped, and Brown back in it, Jon Ossoff's seat has a higher priority for me right now.

[angrychair]

13. Hopefully

He gets more support than he gave VP Harris.

[MadameButterfly]

15. We know where he stood. Also trying to get elected

in Ohio, so she would have the Senate behind her.

[angrychair]

18. He overtly ignored her

An argument could have been made that both of them would have done better in Ohio if he had openly supported her but he refused to campaign with her. He didn't even go to the DNC despite being a super delegate.
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/21/sherrod-brown-campaigns-in-ohio-amid-democratic-national-convention/74766574007/

[MadameButterfly]

21. an argument could be made

I wasn't in the room weighing the decision and don't imagine myself smarter or more ethical than Sherrod Brown. We need him now. Do you think it's worth going after him over this?

[angrychair]

24. Well

Refusing to campaign or even personally endorse, the Democratic presidential candidate and refusing to go to the Democratic Convention, despite being a super delegate, is not what I personally would consider ethical.
I think we need actual Democrats that are proud to be Democrats and don't act ashamed of the Democratic party presidential candidate and don't even show up at the Democratic convention.

[MadameButterfly]

25. I couldn't open the article you sent me but ....

He did say he supported Harris/Walz and said he would campaign for them if they asked (which Moreno used against him). However, he didn't offer to take time out of his tight race in Ohio or expect them to come to Ohio.
Tester also didn't go to the DNC.

I agree in principle with your last sentence but Brown and Tester were dealing with the reality of their constituents and I'm sure developed strategy with the help of their experts. Kamala needed them focussed on getting elected, she wasn't going to take Ohio or Montana, and she had other surrogates.

I could say a lot about other potential surrogates who didn't IMO step up enough. But would give Brown and Tester a pass.

[angrychair]

27. Sorry about the article

Here it is again...maybe I didn't grab all of it:
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/21/sherrod-brown-campaigns-in-ohio-amid-democratic-national-convention/74766574007/

What you are saying is fair and like you my criticism isn't reserved for just one person. I felt there were others that could have stepped up more.
My fear of red state Democrats, especially those that shy away from Party leadership, that they will just end up being another Manchin and we don't need that BS anymore. Not with so much on the line.

I'm all in on "A Democrat is better than no Democrat" so if Brown is that person that so be it and I hope he wins.

[MadameButterfly]

29. You don't have to fear a Manchin from Sherrod

His roots are progressive. Have you seen his book: Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America?
A brilliant book, reviews compare it to Profiles in Courage.

[Raven123]

28. I disagree

Brown lost Ohio by 3 points. Harris lost by 11 points. 2024 was a tough year for a Democrat running in a state that looks a lot light bright red Florida. I don’t think Harris had a snowball’s chance in hell of winning Ohio. I am not privy to Brown’s internal assessment of what it would take to win, but I think the difference in the margins is notable.

[Sogo]

16. The good thing about state-wide races is that he won't have to worry about gerrymandering.

nt

[highplainsdem]

17. Good news!

[Celerity]

19. great news!

[demmiblue]

20. ...

[Tribetime]

22. As Chubbs said in Happy Gilmore..He's going to plsy and he's going to win.

[tritsofme]

23. This is another HUGE recruiting victory for Chuck Schumer!

Brown might be the only Democrat who could make a race out of this seat.

Schumer further proving wrong his doubters in the peanut gallery. He is dominating recruiting in this cycle!

[mikewv]

26. Wonderful News! nm

nm

[Polybius]

30. This is going to be extremely tough

He lost to Bernie Moreno, who had a huge amount of baggage. Jon Husted will be even harder to beat. I wish him the best, but Ohio has Reddened a lot.