Saying the country is going in the wrong direction, Democrat Sherrod Brown is seeking a return to the U.S. Senate because he “can’t stay on the sidelines” and do nothing.

“It is clear there is no voice in the U.S. Senate for Ohio, none, and I want to be that voice again,” Brown said in an interview with the Tribune Chronicle about running next year against U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican.

He added: “I had a reputation in Washington for being the strongest voice for workers in the whole Senate – union and nonunion,” and “when you fight for workers, you win elections and that’s what’s going to happen” in 2026.

It’s been Brown’s platform for years, but he wasn’t reelected in 2024, losing by 3.6% to Republican Bernie Moreno.

Brown, who served 18 years in the Senate, said with Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, faring so poorly in Ohio — she lost to Republican Donald Trump by 11.2% — there “weren’t enough” Trump-Brown voters last year.

“Moreno had no record in public office, no votes, no record,” Brown said. “Husted surprised nobody with where he’s come down on his votes and his performance as an elected official. That’s going to be easier to explain and voters are going to know that.”

Brown added: “I ran ahead of Harris, but I couldn’t run enough ahead of our presidential candidate to win. Politics is more that way now. People vote president and vote all the way down (the ticket with the same political party). That really wasn’t the case 20 years ago.”

Since his January appointment to the Senate – to a seat vacated by J.D. Vance after he was elected vice president – Husted has closely aligned himself with Trump, who has won Ohio in the last three presidential elections.

CONTRAST

Brown said Ohio voters will see a huge contrast between him and Husted, who served as lieutenant governor before Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him to Vance’s seat. Prior to that, Husted was secretary of state and speaker of the Ohio House.

“Husted spent his whole career fronting for special interest groups, whether it’s FirstEnergy, whether it’s Wall Street, whether it’s drug companies,” Brown said. “That’s his whole career so it didn’t surprise me at all after DeWine appointed him that he would land in Washington and do the same thing.”

Brown gave serious consideration to three options: running next year for senator, for governor or retiring from politics.

“After thinking a lot about it, I just think I can do more in the Senate and that’s where I want to land,” he said.

Regarding governor and senator, Brown said, “Both were interesting and both were tempting. Originally, I started not thinking I’d run for anything.”

While Brown is the most recognizable Democrat in Ohio, the state has moved significantly to the right, particularly with the success of Trump, but even before that. Besides Brown, the last Ohio Democrat to win a statewide election with party affiliation on the ballot was Richard Cordray in 2008 during a special election for attorney general.

Brown said since Husted took office in January – which also coincided with Trump’s presidency, Republicans maintaining slim control of the House and taking over the Senate – “it’s clear that things have gotten worse.”

Brown said: “Drug prices keep going up, grocery prices keep going up. Now 490,000 – it’s just an unbelievable number to say 490,000 Ohioans will likely lose their insurance (through Medicaid cuts). There’s a huge tax cut for the richest people in the country and the largest corporations and adding $43 trillion to the deficit. The more I thought about that, the more Connie (Schultz, his wife) and I thought we can’t stay on the sidelines.”

Brown added: “Husted has some really bad votes already.”

Before Brown’s official announcement, Tyson Shepard, a Husted campaign spokesman, said Brown “will be starting in the biggest hole of his political career. He has never faced a candidate like Jon Husted. Brown’s slogans will ring hollow as his coalition walks away, tired of the radical policies he’s forced to support to appease his coastal bosses in California and New York.”

Word leaked last week that Brown had decided to run for senator instead of governor, disappointing a number of his political allies.

“The people who were disappointed are on board overwhelmingly” with the Senate bid, Brown said.

VALLEY VOTE

Brown has seen a sharp decline in support from voters in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Brown went from getting 73.5% of the Mahoning County vote in 2006 to 48.3% last year in his loss to Moreno.

In Trumbull, Brown received 73.1% of the vote in 2006, compared to 45.2% last year with Moreno winning the county.

The two formerly longtime Democratic strongholds have become significantly more Republican since Trump first ran for president in 2016.

Asking about the two counties, Brown said, “We’re going to win the Mahoning Valley. I’d say that for certain. We’re going to win the Mahoning Valley. They’re going to see what their votes did. They’re going to see the betrayal of Jon Husted and what he did. (The Valley) doesn’t see a senator advocating for them now and they’re going to see that again.”

The 2026 election is for the two remaining years on Vance’s Senate term. If he is successful in 2026, Brown will have to run again in 2028.

“I’m not thinking about what happens in two years except what happens when I’m in the Senate,” he said. “I’m thinking a lot about that. But I’ve got no thoughts about what I do in two years politically.”