Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, with his unruly hair, rumpled suit, gravelly voice and down-to-earth “dignity of work” appeal, has long had one of Ohio’s strongest political brands. But a Republican senator who learned a lot about brands and competition while working at Cincinnati’s Procter & Gamble Co. thinks his third-term colleague is vulnerable in this fall’s election against Republican Bernie Moreno.
“Ohio is Ground Zero for one of the biggest Senate races in the nation,” said Steve Daines, a second-term senator who’s chairing the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. Another is Daines’ home state of Montana, where Republicans hope to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Tester as they try to wrest Senate control from the Democrats needing a net gain of two seats (or one, if there is a Republican vice president to break tie votes). The two races are similar with Democratic incumbents running against red tides in their states.
While Brown has been winning elections since the early 1970s, Daines pointed out that he’s never had to run with Donald Trump on the same ballot. Trump handily carried Ohio in 2016 and 2020 and seems likely to again this year.