Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was defeated Nov. 5 in his reelection bid, said he won’t rule out running for the Senate again or for governor of Ohio in 2026.
Speaking in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics With Manu Raju,” the Ohio Democrat said, “I’m not dismissing anything at this point.”
Brown was defeated by Republican Bernie Moreno, losing 50 percent to 46 percent. Brown, who was seeking his fourth term in the Senate, ran approximately 2 percentage points in his state better than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Ohio will have a special Senate race in 2026 after Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, fills the pending vacancy created by Sen. JD Vance ascending to the vice presidency. There will also be a gubernatorial election in Ohio that year, with the term-limited DeWine unable to seek another term.
The next Senate will have a 53-47 Republican advantage. Brown noted that in only three states will be there be a split Senate delegation (Maine, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania), with all the others being either one party or the other.
Brown told Raju people are “more and more willing to vote a party line,” then added: “That’s troubling, but it’s people’s decisions.”
