“A PAC aligned with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) is going up with new ads Monday bolstering GOP senators in Ohio and Florida,” Axios reports.
“The group will spend half a million dollars between the two states. It’s another sign of Republican leaders moving early to try to sway voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.”
A new Emerson College survey of the Ohio Senate race finds Jon Husted (R) leading Sherrod Brown (D), 50% to 44%, with 7% of voters undecided
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) raised $3.6 million in the first 24 hours after formally announcing his campaign against Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), the Washington Post reports.
NOTUS: “Former Sen. Sherrod Brown formally entered the state’s Senate race on Monday, less than a year after voters rejected the blue-collar Democrat’s bid for a fourth term and after months of speculation that he might run for governor or retire from public life altogether instead. He’ll take on Republican Sen. Jon Husted in what both parties expect will be a competitive race that Democrats likely need to win to have any chance at claiming a majority in the Senate.”
“In backing Brown, Democrats are hoping that some portion of voters who opposed him in 2024 are feeling buyer’s remorse now. That makes the race perhaps the best barometer for how politics has changed since the last election, including whether voters frustrated about the economy blame Republicans and whether issues like immigration and trans student athletes remain as politically potent as they were last year.”
Cook Political Report: “Democrats have scored a major recruiting victory by convincing former Sen. Sherrod Brown to run again in Ohio just months after he lost reelection.”
“But while the political environment in 2026 may be much better for Brown than in a presidential year, he will be up against a potentially much tougher opponent in appointed Sen. Jon Husted, a former lieutenant governor and secretary of state who has already won statewide before.”
“Brown’s entrance certainly puts the Ohio Senate special election on the competitive map, and it’s doubtful that any other Democrat would have made this a real race. But Husted still starts as a slight favorite in a state that’s been moving toward the right. We are shifting our rating from Likely to Lean Republican.”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball shifts its rating on Ohio’s U.S. Senate race from Likely Republican to Leans Republican with the entry of former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in the contest.
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) “has decided to run in 2026 for U.S. Senate, attempting a return to the office that he lost last year after a savagely fought reelection campaign,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Brown’s decision, which comes after months of speculation about his political future, gives Ohio Democrats perhaps their best hope of unseating incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Columbus-area Republican appointed to the job earlier this year.”
“Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is interviewing campaign managers for a 2026 comeback bid, a clear indication that he’s preparing to jump into the race to defeat Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH),” Axios reports.
“While Ohio has been viewed as a stretch target for the party next year, Brown’s entrance into the race would immediately boost Democratic chances.”
“Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former Sen. Sherrod Brown met in Ohio this weekend, as Brown weighs a possible comeback bid to flip a GOP Senate seat in the state,” Axios reports.
“Schumer has lobbied Brown for months to run. Fresh off a major recruiting victory in North Carolina, he wants to expand that luck to Ohio.”
As they gear up for special elections next fall, appointed Sens. Jon Husted (R-OH) and Ashley Moody (R-FL) are facing easier paths than some had initially expected, NBC News reports.
Crowded primaries haven’t materialized, both have proven strong fundraisers and their states are trending redder.
“Sen. J.D. Vance’s election as vice president has opened up one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats for the third time in as many years, setting off a scramble for the appointment among the state’s ruling Republicans,” CBS News reports.
“Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is tasked with filling the vacancy, giving the pragmatic center-right politician a hand in setting his party’s course in the state potentially for years to come. His decision will be made in the afterglow of sweeping wins by Republicans in November under the leadership of President-elect Donald Trump, but a poor choice could also help Democrats reclaim a place in Ohio’s Senate delegation when the seat comes up for reelection in less than two years.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who was unseated last week by Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, seems open to a bid to replace Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), who will be leaving the upper chamber to serve as vice president, The Hill reports.
“Although he’s remained involved on the periphery of Democratic politics since losing a 2022 bid for the U.S. Senate, Tim Ryan publicly had ruled out running for office again in 2026,” Signal Cleveland reports.
“He’s re-evaluating that position following last week’s election.”
Said Ryan: “I said I wasn’t. People have been calling me and saying, ‘Keep your options open.’ So I’m keeping my options open right now.”
“Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is facing a key decision on whom to tap to fill the term of Vice President-elect Vance as jockeying among Ohio Republicans for the coveted appointment is set to become a knife fight,” The Hill reports.
“Vance will be departing the upper chamber only two years after winning his seat, creating a vacancy that will have ramifications both immediately and down the line. The appointed senator would be staring down back-to-back campaigns: a high-stakes special election in 2026 and a race in 2028.”
Ohio U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (R) was served a subpoena in the messy divorce between his daughter, Emily Moreno Miller, and Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Former Ohio Governor Bob Taft (R) endorsed Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in a Dayton Daily News op-ed.
“I have always run for office under the banner of the Republican Party, am a conservative and usually vote a straight Republican ticket. Although still a Republican, I will be making an exception this year in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race by supporting Sherrod Brown.”
A new Washington Post poll in Ohio finds Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) just ahead of challenger Bernie Moreno (R), 48% to 47%.
A new Marist poll finds Brown leading Moreno, 50% to 48%.
“Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) campaign says it raised $30.6 million in the third quarter, a massive figure that could help Democrats blunt the spending disparity with GOP outside groups in the Buckeye State,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Brown has been polling ahead of his GOP opponent Bernie Moreno, but the race will be extremely close in a state that former President Donald Trump is expected to win handily.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.