Sherrod Brown, Ohio's highest-profile Democrat, expected to seek a return to the US Senate in 2026
Brown has not yet made a formal announcement, but people familiar with his plans who were not authorized to speak publicly about them said he plans to run. One person said an announcement could come by the end of next week. The decision was first reported by Cleveland.com.
Brown, 72, seeks the Senate seat currently held by Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, 57, a former Ohio lieutenant governor, state senator and secretary of state who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Democrats view Brown, a three-term former senator and champion of the working class, as among their most formidable candidates despite his 2024 reelection defeat to Republican Bernie Moreno.
His entry into the race would mark another major recruiting win for the party. While Democrats face a daunting Senate map in next year's midterm elections, they have been buoyed by the decisions of well known candidates to run in high-profile races. That includes in North Carolina, where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper announced that he will be running for an open Senate seat, giving Democrats a proven statewide winner in a race that is expected to be one of the most competitive 2026 contests.
Republicans, meanwhile, have struggled to line up candidates in key battleground states like Georgia, where term-limited Brian Kemp passed on challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, whom Republican leaders have made their biggest target in next year's midterm elections.
In Ohio, numerous fellow Democrats had been deferring to Brown before announcing their own plans for 2026, when every statewide executive office in Ohio is up for grabs due to term limits. Besides Senate, Brown was also weighing a run for governor. He immediately becomes the front-runner for the Democratic Senate nomination.
Husted was appointed to succeed then-Sen. JD Vance after Vance won the 2024 election alongside Donald Trump. Husted's appointment to the seat expires next year. The winner of a fall 2026 special election will serve the remainder of Vance's unexpired six-year term, which runs through 2028, and then would need to run again for a full term.
It's unclear how Brown's usual electoral advantage in name recognition might play against Husted, who spent more than 20 years as a statewide officeholder and state lawmaker. But Democratic strategists said Tuesday that a Husted-Brown race would be more centered on Ohio themes, an advantage for Brown over last year's nationally focused contest against Moreno.
Trump's endorsement has been a winning formula in Senate bids by both Moreno and Vance before him, who both scored wins as political newcomers even amid fields that included more experienced rivals.
Husted's campaign spokesman Tyson Shepherd said in a statement, 'Should Brown enter the race as (Senate Democratic Leader Chuck) Schumer's handpicked candidate he will be starting in the biggest hole of his political career. He has never faced a candidate like Jon Husted.'
Ahead of his decision, Schumer visited Ohio to meet with Brown at least twice, as first reported by Axios. Schumer's deep-pocketed Senate Majority PAC helped make Brown's race against Moreno the most expensive in U.S. history.
Brown launched a pro-worker organization called the Dignity of Work Institute in March, as he weighed his own — and his party's — future in the wake of 2024's losses.
___
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
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