Sherrod Brown to launch senate comeback attempt

Former Democratic Ohio U.S. Senator, Sherrod Brown, is jumping back into state politics.

Brown lost to Republican Senator Bernie Moreno in 2024.

Now, he's looking to fill a seat in the Senate once more, running against Incumbent Republican Jon Husted. But in a Republican-led state, a political analyst says it'll be an uphill battle for Brown.

Cleveland.com was the first to report Brown's plans.

Brown would face off against Senator Jon Husted, the former lieutenant governor who Governor DeWine appointed to Vice President Vance's seat.

Brown narrowly lost his race for a fourth term last year by about 3.5 percentage points, which is a stronger showing than other Ohio Democrats.

"The primary for the Democrats and the Republicans is May 2026 and then of course the general is not until November 2026 so a lot can happen between now and then and for Sherrod Brown, a lot of it is going to be dependent on factors outside of his control," Jeremy Pelzer, chief political analyst at The Plain Dealer said.

Some of those factors include the popularity and unpopularity of President Donald Trump.

"It's risky for any Democrat to run in Ohio," Pelzer said. "You have a number of Democrats who might be positioned to run for some sort of statewide office and they're hesitating because it's a real uphill battle in the state that it's gone from the nation's quintessential swing state to a state that has been dominated by republicans on the entire state level," he said.

However, a midterm year is typically tougher for the president's party, putting the Republican leaning state in play for Democrats.

"For Sherrod Brown this is a big risk. Even if he wins he's going to then have to run three straight election cycles, 2024, 2026 and 2028 and he is right now 72 years old and this is a big undertaking," Pelzer said.

Pelzer adds, it's still too early to tell what will happen with either candidate, especially because other candidates could join in the race and approval ratings could be much higher or lower by 2026.