Sherrod Brown interviewing campaign managers for 2026 Ohio US Senate race [View all]

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is interviewing campaign managers for a 2026 comeback bid, a clear indication that he's preparing to jump into the race to defeat Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), according to three people familiar with the matter.

https://www.axios.com/2025/08/04/sherrod-brown-ohio-senate-race-husted

https://archive.ph/CXa1e



Why it matters: Brown would be another marquee recruit for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who made two trips to Ohio this summer to persuade Brown to enter the race. Brown's Senate ambitions, if he acts on them, would be disappointing to some Ohio Democrats, who view him as the party's best chance to defeat Vivek Ramaswamy in the governor's race. Party insiders have been long pessimistic about the odds of Brown running for Senate again, and he was also considering running for governor, sources previously told Axios.

Zoom in: While Ohio has been viewed as a stretch target for the party next year, Brown's entrance into the race would immediately boost Democratic chances. Brown, a three-term senator, lost Ohio by under four percentage points in 2024, when Vice President Harris lost to President Trump by 11 percentage points. If he makes a final decision to enter the race, Brown would join former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who announced his Senate campaign last week, as two of Schumer's top prospects to eat into the GOP's margins in 2026. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zoom out: Schumer knows that Brown is likely his best shot at running a competitive campaign in Ohio next year, as the state moves away from the Democratic Party. Brown, 72, would face Husted, 57, who was appointed to fill the vacant seat created when JD Vance resigned from the Senate to serve as vice president. Husted will come to his first Senate election with the Republican Party fully behind him and the financial resources to prove it. Husted raised $2.9 million in second quarter of the year, leaving him with $2.6 million cash on hand at the beginning of July.

Zoom in: Schumer has been courting Brown at every opportunity, including in Ohio last week, Axios first reported. Given his long-standing pro-tariff and trade-skeptical positions, Democrats think that Brown can outperform a generic Democrat and appeal to some MAGA voters. Ahead of 2024, Brown himself told donors that he would have a chance if Harris lost by less than eight percentage points. He ended up outperforming her by about 7.5 percentage points.

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