DEAR EDITOR:

Sen. Sherrod Brown has the unique gift of getting along with all people equally, rich or poor, male or female, old or young — and always with a real devotion to the average family and the everyday worker.

Voters have trusted Sherrod Brown for almost 20 years. In his Senate elections, he won with mandates from more than 50% of Ohio voters all three times. In return, he aims a laser-sharp focus on the needs of the many but does not forget the importance of the few.

He sponsored the Butch Lewis Act, restoring the pensions of a million retirees throughout the country and 62,000 here in this Valley. He is a solid backer for manufacturing and supported the CHIPS Act to return manufacturing jobs to places like Ohio. He has fought against fentanyl addiction for years. We need him in this Valley because he focuses his attention on the issues that concern us rather than fixating on broad national issues.

In the Senate, he has been the ranking minority member of the Health Committee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. He served on the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. While on the House International Relations Committee, he simultaneously served on the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, also serving on the Veterans Committee for an unheard-of full six-year term. Sen. Brown is known for the work he’s done to improve life for our veterans.

Sherrod knows Ohio voters — being from Mansfield, he’s cut from the same cloth as many of us. He has farmed his family’s land and taught in the Ohio public school system and at The Ohio State University. He’s married to Pulitzer-prize-winning writer, Connie Schultz.

His challenger, Bernie Moreno, is an outsider who was born in Bogota, Colombia. Moreno made it to Ohio after living in Colombia, Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts. It was in Massachusetts that Moreno found himself in trouble for not paying fair overtime to an employee and then shredding the overtime records. By 2023, when he decided to run for the Senate, he had accumulated about a dozen lawsuits from those who believed they were paid unfairly. There was no doubt that he shredded important records. The Associated Press also reports that he has been sued in Ohio for age, gender and race discrimination. Sen. Brown carries none of that baggage.

We need someone who understands Ohio’s labor unions and Sherrod Brown has much to say about the dignity of work. We need someone who has worked successfully with both Republicans and Democrats. We need someone from Ohio who knows our issues and passions. We need to retain Sen. Sherrod Brown.

LINDA COCUZZI RICHTER