Sherrod Brown, the veteran Democratic senator from Ohio, is planning a return to the U.S. Senate in next year’s midterm elections after losing his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024. Sources indicate Brown plans to formally announce his candidacy within the next two weeks to challenge Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted, who holds the seat up for election next year after being appointed to succeed Vice President JD Vance.
Brown’s comeback bid is seen as a strategic boost for Democrats aiming to shift the Senate’s current 53–47 Republican majority.
Following his defeat, Brown founded the Dignity of Work Institute and stressed the need to reconnect the party with working-class voters — an approach credited with fueling his popularity in Ohio even as the national party’s trajectory made the Buckeye State substantially more Republican in the Trump era.
Ohio remains a battleground state by the narrowest of margins, and Brown’s name recognition and long-standing ties to working-class voters make him a potentially formidable contender. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reportedly encouraged Brown to run, a move that could also clear the way for other top-tier Democratic candidates to enter races elsewhere.
While Republicans are still favored to hold the seat, Brown’s record of winning five statewide races in the Buckeye State moves the contest out of the “Solid Republican” category and forces the GOP to spend time and resources on a race they considered safe until Tuesday.
Roll Call continues:
Recruiting Brown is an essential step in the Democratic path to the majority, since it helps expand a difficult Senate map. But it’s not a guarantee of success. Brown, 72, just lost reelection by nearly 4 points to Republican Bernie Moreno, and Donald Trump finished ahead of Kamala Harris by 11 points, proving that winning statewide in Ohio is difficult for any Democrat now.
According to Inside Elections’ Baseline, a typical statewide Republican has a 10-point advantage, 54-44 percent in Ohio. And Brown had a Vote-Above-Replacement score of 2 in 2024, meaning he outperformed a typical Democratic candidate by 2 points. In 2018, Brown’s VAR score was 9.3, but that was with a sizable spending advantage against a flawed GOP opponent when the statewide Baseline was a more narrow 8.5 points.
But with a recently former senator running, Republicans have to take the race seriously now and will have to spend time, money and energy defending the seat. We’re changing our Inside Elections rating to Lean Republican. Even though Brown just lost, the midterm environment will likely be better for Democrats overall, setting up a close contest.
The 2026 race is to fill the remainder of the term. Husted was appointed to the seat by GOP Gov. Mike DeWine when Sen. JD Vance became vice president. So the winner of this race will have to run again in 2028.
Brown’s unexpected return underscores a deliberate push by Democrats to reclaim a pivotal seat, signaling renewed momentum in their broader electoral strategy as they set their sights on emerging from the political wilderness in 2026.
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So, “Brown founded the Dignity of Work Institute and stressed the need to reconnect the party with working-class voters.” That says it all. Instead of actually connecting with working class voters, Brown uses the PR approach. “Look what I did!”
Dems are so out of touch. They cannot imagine being shoulder to shoulder with real working people. I read through the Institute website. It never addresses how the flood of illegals was impacting working Americans. He ranted about the rising cost of living but ignores happened under Biden. He spouts many meaningless platitudes about fighting for workers, etc, but as always, provides no actual plan. Very much like Kammie Harris and her vague “Opportunity Economy.”
Brown is a Vile communist. But he will have unlimited funding, and every newspaper endorsement in the state.
As an Ohio resident. I would love to be able to say he didn’t have a chance. The problem is that in 2018, Republicans won all statewide offices in Ohio be a significant margin, and Sherrod Brown won reelection as the Senator from Ohio be a significant margin. Given that exactly the same voters chose Republicans for all statewide offices, chose Sherrod Brown for Senate, and that the same offices will be on the ballot in 2026, it is hard to be confident the results won’t be the same.