Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is distancing himself from Vice President Kamala Harris amid the biggest fight of his political career
Kamala Harris officially becomes 2024 Democratic nominee for president
After roll call at the DNC in Chicago, Kamala Harris received Democrats’ nomination for her as president at a rally in Milwaukee.
Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown would rather not talk about Vice President Kamala Harris.
To be fair, he didn’t want to talk about President Joe Biden either.
In an increasingly red state that former President Donald Trump won twice, the top of the Democratic ticket is a drag rather than a boon for Brown, who is seeking a fourth term in the U.S. Senate against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. Polling suggests Trump could win by double-digits here despite enthusiasm building for Harris in key swing states nationwide.
Those same polls indicate Brown has an edge over Moreno, a much less well-known candidate who won the GOP primary with Trump’s endorsement.
So Brown, a superdelegate, isn’t at the Democratic National Convention − the first one he’s skipped in years − as the party celebrates the nomination of the party’s first Asian and Black female candidate. He is not expected to campaign with Harris, who will spend more time in neighboring Pennsylvania and Michigan than Ohio anyway.
Brown confirmed he had endorsed Harris via a spokesman rather than a news release praising Harris’ attributes. In interviews, Brown has said little about Harris or the presidential campaign − though he’s credited her with focusing on working people.
“I have a lot more voters in Toledo than there are in Chicago,” Brown said during a campaign event Wednesday. “But I do my job, and my job is to continue to serve people. Elections take care of themselves if you do the job the way you should.”
Sherrod Brown stands alone
Brown has worn the mantle of the state’s sole statewide elected Democrat for more than a decade.
Sure, Democrats have won seats on the Ohio Supreme Court (which, until a recent GOP change, didn’t list party affiliation). But they’ve struck out on bids for president, governor and U.S. Senate while losing ground in the Ohio Legislature.
Brown is in the fight of his political career to defeat Moreno. In that race, Brown is courting crossover voters, a playbook former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan used to less success in his 2022 Senate race: Appeal to Republican voters and hope the Democrats will stick with you.
“The Democratic base is strong and with me, and I get a lot of Republicans and a lot of others,” Brown said, following a news conference with a bipartisan pair of sheriffs Wednesday.
Television ads from a group tied to Senate Democrats tout Brown as tough on drugs at the border, working on a bill that Trump signed. Brown’s ads focus on his work with Republicans to bring Intel’s semiconductor manufacturing facility to central Ohio − a message that helped GOP Gov. Mike DeWine win reelection in 2022.
The tack didn’t end well for Ryan, who lost 47%-53% to Republican JD Vance in 2022. Vance is now Trump’s running mate.
“(Brown) really doesn’t want a repeat of what happened to Tim Ryan,” said Brianna Mack, assistant professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University. “(Ryan) ended up campaigning as Trump-lite and of course, Ohio voters are like, ‘Why should we vote for Trump-lite when we could vote for the actual Trump-endorsed person, JD Vance?'”
But Brown is a more successful politician than Ryan and has the financial backing of national Democratic groups. The state’s senior senator has only lost one race: In 1990, future Gov. Bob Taft defeated Brown for secretary of state.
Brown also has a long history and leeway with Democratic voters − even those who might think it’s a mistake to shy away from the enthusiasm surrounding Harris.
“It’s not like he’s out there attacking her. I think he’s just keeping his distance,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “There’s no reason for Brown to nationalize the race and there’s every reason for Republicans to nationalize the race.”
How Harris, Trump could affect Ohio Senate race
Nationalizing the Ohio Senate race is precisely what Republicans are doing.
Moreno was among a slate of GOP Senate candidates who spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month, highlighting the party’s desire to reclaim control of the Senate. He frequently ties Brown to Biden administration policies and even speculated that his opponent would endorse Trump for president.
Fixating on the top of the ticket can also help Moreno − who has no prior political experience and little name recognition − curry favor with Republican voters. Earlier this month, he toured Ohio with a bus displaying “Trump endorsed” in large letters.
Moreno is also close with Vance, who helped Moreno during the GOP Senate primary and reportedly urged Trump to get involved in the race.
“How can you vote for Kamala Harris when your own Senate nominee refuses to campaign with her, refuses to be seen with her, won’t even go to the convention when it’s his job to vote for her for president of the United States?” Moreno said during a stop in Washington Court House. “Why? Because he doesn’t want to be exposed for the liar and the fraud that he is.”
Even as Brown forges his own path, presidential politics have already seeped into his reelection bid − and changes at the top of the ticket may continue to influence it.
Brown called on President Joe Biden to drop out two days before the sitting president announced he would end his reelection bid. Biden’s decision salvaged House and Senate races across the country and neutralized some of the attacks comparing Brown to Biden.
Does that mean Brown is better off with Harris as the Democratic nominee?
“Harris at the top of the ticket, it’s both a help and a hurt,” Mack said. Harris will mobilize millennial and Gen Z voters, but Biden might have helped Brown appeal to white men and some moderates, Mack added. “There’s an exchange there.”
As Ohio Democrats rallied for Harris in Chicago, state party chair Liz Walters said Brown was exactly where he needed to be. And Brown is still keeping tabs on the convention: During his stop in Toledo Wednesday, he asked reporters whether they heard Walters tout the founding of AFL-CIO in Columbus during the DNC roll call.
“His absence tells you just how seriously he’s taking his race,” Walters said. “We know Ohio’s a tough state, even in a good year.”
Jessie Balmert and Haley BeMiller are reporters for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 07:30:00
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