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Sherrod Brown has decided to run for Senate in Ohio in 2026, according to two people familiar with his thinking, making a play for his old job just months after he was beaten by Republican Bernie Moreno last November.
The Democrat will face off against Sen. Jon Husted, whom Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed to the Senate after JD Vance left his seat to become vice president.
Brown was a top recruit for Senate Democratic leaders in their uphill battle to reclaim the majority in the upper chamber in 2026. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and survived two hard-fought reelection campaigns, even as Ohio’s status as a Republican state only crystallized. In 2018, he bested Republican Jim Renacci by a nearly 7-point margin, even though President Donald Trump won the state two years prior.
But in 2024, Moreno won by more than 200,000 votes. Still, Brown ran nearly 8 points ahead of the top of the ticket, as Trump claimed victory in the state over former Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 11 points.
“I don’t see Nov. 5 as a failure,” he told POLITICO in an interview days after his election loss. “I see it as sort of a new start of continuing my work focusing on workers.”
Brown is the only major Democrat to run for the seat and will likely clear the primary field.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported Brown’s plans. The two people familiar with Brown’s thinking spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his not-yet-public decision.
Democrats need to net four seats to reclaim the Senate in 2026, and Brown’s decision could yet put Ohio in play. But the math will be difficult. Only two of the 22 Republican seats up for grabs in the midterm elections come from states Trump lost or won by less than 10 points in 2024.
The winner in 2026 will only claim the right to finish Vance’s original term and would need to run again in 2028 to win a full six-year Senate stint.
A Brown spokesperson declined to comment.
Husted, who earned Trump’s endorsement in April, has already been preparing for a tough reelection fight. He has just under $2.7 million in his campaign account as of the end of June.
“Sherrod Brown’s far Left agenda was out of touch with Ohio voters last election, and it is even more out of touch today,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in an X post Tuesday. “Senator @JonHusted is delivering for Ohio, and he’s just getting started!”
Brown also considered running in the state’s open gubernatorial contest. One-time presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who met with DeWine to discuss the Senate appointment that eventually went to Husted, is running for governor. The most prominent Democrat currently in the race is former state health director Amy Acton, and former Rep. Tim Ryan is also considering a run.
Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.
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