Sherrod Brown keeps Democrats on their toes in Ohio

All eyes are on former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in Ohio to see whether he decides to attempt a comeback with one of the two major statewide races in the Buckeye State next year. 

Following his loss to Sen. Bernie Moreno (R) in November, Brown did not rule out running for Senate again with a special election set for next year to fill the remainder of Vice President Vance’s term. He also expressed openness to considering a gubernatorial bid but has suggested his time holding political office may be over. 

The only Democrat elected to statewide office in Ohio in the past decade, Brown would start out either race with some clear advantages and add to Democratic hopes to make both competitive contests. 

“Name recognition is a well-known commodity in Ohio. People know exactly who and what he is,” said Ohio Democratic strategist Jeff Rusnak. “He has the ability to raise funds quickly and put a campaign together almost instantly.” 

Brown has been an institution for Ohio politics for decades, with a career going back half a century. 

Throughout his time in office, he established a reputation as a populist, staunchly pro-worker senator in a widely blue-collar state that was the quintessential swing state but has shifted rightward in recent years. 

He won easily in 2006 and comfortably in 2012 and 2018, before narrowly losing his reelection bid by about 3.5 points to Moreno. 

Democrats said Brown’s longevity and ability to put together winning coalitions would suit him well if he were to try again in 2026. A Senate run may be the most obvious choice. 

“It goes without question that Sherrod would be a very formidable recruit for the Senate race, given he won it three times and was very competitive this time around,” said a national Democratic strategist. 

Brown has sent mixed signals on his political future.

Just more than a week after the election, he told Politico he wasn’t “ruling anything out” in response to a question about whether he would run to fill the rest of Vance’s term. If he runs, he would likely face Sen. Jon Husted (R), the former lieutenant governor of Ohio, whom Gov. Mike DeWine (R) chose as Vance’s replacement. 

The winner of the special election would serve for the remaining two years before needing to run for a full term again in 2028. 

But he also told CNN he wasn’t ruling out a run for governor, either, with DeWine being term-limited. At the same time, he doesn’t seem committed to running for office again, telling The New York Times recently, “I really don’t know if I want to run for office again.” 

But he has remained quite politically active in the meantime. 

He wrote an op-ed earlier this month in The New Republic arguing that the party has abandoned its roots. He argued for Democrats to become the “workers’ party” as they search for their identity in the second Trump administration. 

“It is an electoral and a moral imperative, and it will be my mission for the rest of my life,” he said. “To win the White House and governing majorities again, Democrats must reckon with how far our party has strayed from our New Deal roots, in terms of both our philosophy toward the economy, and the makeup of our coalition.” 

He announced Monday he’s launching a nonprofit called the Dignity of Work Institute, telling the Times the organization will advocate for workers because both parties have forgotten them. Brown said the possibility he could run for office is “not really material” to the institute. 

But speculation surely will linger until Brown publicly makes a decision. 

One Democratic candidate is already running for governor: former Ohio Health Department Director Amy Acton. While she may not have high name recognition outside Ohio, Acton received praise for leading the state during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Democrats said they like her chances of being a competitive candidate. 

“She's very popular. She's a different kind of candidate. She's an outsider, and so I think she has she appeals to a different audience,” Rusnak said, adding that she could appeal to blue collar families and suburban women. 

He said he would be surprised if Brown and Acton ran against each other and said Husted could have vulnerabilities that make him a target for defeat. 

Democrats noted Husted hasn’t run as a top-of-the-ticket candidate before, and his name recognition isn’t as high as other senators. And they point to an alleged corruption scheme in which Husted was accused of advocating for a bill that benefitted a company that gave a $1 million dark money contribution to a group backing Husted. 

Husted has denied knowledge of the scheme, but Democrats have sought to target him over it. 

But Brown may still have difficulties, with Ohio seeming to get redder by the year. 

“Brown has a color for his last name, and he has a deep-blue voting record in a deep-red state. This confusion of colors will keep him from being elected ever again,” said Ohio GOP strategist Mark Weaver, pointing to Brown’s voting record overwhelmingly in line with Democrats. 

Weaver said Brown would have many groups outside Ohio supporting a Senate bid, particularly because of possible enthusiasm to limit President Trump’s agenda. But even backlash to Trump would only give Brown a couple of points in a state increasingly more conservative than the country overall, he argued. 

“Ohio has continued to grow redder over the last several years, and Sherrod Brown's voting record and ideology has not kept up with that trend,” Weaver said. 

But Democrats note that all but one of the main state-level races since 2018 have been competitive races, even though Republicans have pulled off the wins. The only exception was in 2022, when the popular DeWine coasted to reelection by 25 points.

All others were only decided by single digits.

If Brown were to decide against running for Senate, Democrats could turn to former Rep. Tim Ryan (D), who also expressed interest in a return to politics in 2026. Ryan lost the 2022 Senate race to Vance by about 6 points but still put up impressive fundraising totals and received widespread attention.

“It's Ohio. It's a tough state, so I'm not arguing that Democrats have the lead here, but ... I would be very surprised if [the Senate and governor’s races] weren't both competitive,” the national Democrat said.