Senator Sherrod Brown, who was defeated in his re-election bid on November 5, said he will not rule out running again for the Senate or for governor of Ohio in 2026.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “Inside Politics With Manu Raju,” the Ohio Democrat said, “I’m not rejecting 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, did about 2 percentage points better in his state than Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Ohio will have a special Senate race in 2026 after Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, filled the open vacancy created by Sen. J.D. Vance, ascending to the vice presidency. There will also be a gubernatorial election in Ohio that year, with term-limited DeWine unable to seek another term.
The next Senate will have a 53-47 Republican advantage. Brown noted that only three states will have a split Senate delegation (Maine, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania), with all others being one party or the other.
Brown told Raju that people are “increasingly willing to vote for a party line,” adding, “That’s troubling, but it’s people’s decisions.”
