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(CN) — Democrats clinging to the possibility of recapturing the U.S. Senate were given a glimmer of hope Monday when former Senator Sherrod Brown announced he will run against Senator Jon Husted in 2026.
Husted, a Republican, was appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine upon the resignation of Vice President JD Vance. The winner of the 2026 special election will serve out the remaining two years of the term.
Brown, 72, served three terms as a senator from 2007-2025, and was defeated by President Donald Trump-backed Republican Bernie Moreno by four points in 2024.
The narrow margin of defeat gives Democrats hope that Brown’s pro-labor platform can succeed in Ohio, a state that has shifted demonstrably to Republicans in the last decade.
David Niven, political science professor at the University of Cincinnati, gave Brown a puncher’s chance in the Buckeye State.
“The good news for Democrats is that Sherrod Brown has won statewide in Ohio,” Niven said in an interview. “But the bad news for Democrats, of course, is that Sherrod Brown is the only one that has won statewide in Ohio since 2014. It’s an uphill battle in Ohio for a Democrat, but Brown has a couple things going for him that he didn’t in 2024.”
Brown, also a former Ohio Secretary of State, has previously indicated that he decided to reenter the political arena when President Donald Trump signed his congressional spending bill in July.
Niven highlighted Trump as a pivotal factor in the upcoming race.
“Number one, it’s not a presidential election year, so you won’t have to deal with unpredictable turnout. Two, you have a Trump agenda that simply is not popular, and it’s going to create some very specific problems in Ohio that Brown can campaign on. And number three, Jon Husted has wrapped himself in all things Trump. He not only voted for the bill, he cheer leaded for it.”
In a statement from his campaign office, Husted said “Sherrod Brown’s recent announcement means Ohioans will face a clear choice in 2026. For 30 years, he has imposed Washington’s problems on Ohio, pushing radical liberal policies that have left a lasting burden on the next generation. Jon Husted offers the opposite approach, applying Ohio’s values and solutions to fix a broken Washington.”
No other notable Democrats have announced an intention to run for Husted’s seat, and it’s expected Brown will not face a serious threat in the primary, which allows him to focus on Husted and fundraising.
And much like the 2024 race — which ended up as the most expensive U.S. Senate race in history — money is expected to pour in from across the country.
“This is going to a mega-race, with mega-money, regardless of what happens in the primary,” Niven said. “It sets up to compete with the 2024 race. This is going to be a gratuitously overfunded campaign, on both sides.
“Even though you have a governor’s race that is literally the top item on the ballot, this is going to be a far more nationalized race with far more money in it,” he added.
In a video released alongside his announcement, Brown reiterated the focal point of his campaign will be “standing up for workers and treating everyone with dignity and respect.”
“For the past eight months, all they’ve done in Washington is make things worse for Ohioans, handing over your hard-earned money to corporations and to billionaires,” he continued.
Brown called Trump’s tariffs “reckless” and emphasized recent spending cuts that eliminated Medicaid coverage for nearly half a million Ohioans.
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