Sherrod Brown Appears Bitter At Losing His Senate Seat

Sherrod Brown, the outgoing Democrat Senator from Ohio, spent the weekend whining about his recent election loss. The three-termer claimed a combination of aggressive misinformation campaigns and Vice President Kamala Harris’s underperformance in the national election. Brown, who had held his Senate seat since 2007, was defeated by Senator-elect Bernie Moreno, with the Republican winning over fifty percent of the vote and a difference of roughly two hundred thousand votes.

In an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju, Brown reflected on the factors behind his defeat, pointing to the significant impact of negative advertising and the broader national political climate. “I expected to win because I’m out a lot, talking to workers and people year-round,” Brown stated, emphasizing his connection with voters. However, he noted that late-stage advertisements tying him to former President Donald Trump played a crucial role in swaying voters. “What I didn’t see coming was the ad where Trump said, ‘Voting for Sherrod Brown is voting against me.’”

Brown also highlighted Harris’s weak electoral performance as a significant hurdle. The vice president lost every major swing state and even the national popular vote to President-elect Donald Trump, creating a ripple effect that hurt Democrats in down-ballot races. “When the leader of your ticket runs nearly twelve points behind, it’s almost impossible to overcome that,” Brown said, acknowledging the challenges of running in a difficult national environment.

NEW: “We don’t appear to be fighting for them.” After his defeat in Ohio’s Senate race, @SherrodBrown sits down one-on-one with @mkraju to dissect why the Democratic Party is losing voters throughout the country — and what’s next for him. #InsidePolitics pic.twitter.com/dgdTg6Gxpr

— Inside Politics (@InsidePolitics) November 24, 2024

The influence of Trump in shaping the election’s outcome was also central to Brown’s analysis, noted The Washington Examiner. When Raju suggested that Trump’s presence may have been pivotal in Moreno’s victory, Brown agreed, focusing on the unprecedented spending and tone of the campaign. He accused Moreno’s team of relying on “nasty, negative ads” and benefiting from significant financial backing. “It came down to money and Trump,” Brown asserted. “You lie, you spend a lot of money, and then you hope that your candidate [Trump] wins big.”

Campaign spending emerged as a significant theme in Brown’s critique. Trump’s campaign poured three hundred seventy-eight million dollars into advertising between late July and early November, while Harris’s campaign outspent him, allocating over six hundred fifty-four million dollars during the same period. Despite the increased spending, Harris’s campaign faced criticism for freezing payments to senior staffers immediately after the election, breaking prior commitments to keep them employed through December.

When asked about the fairness of Moreno’s campaign, Brown expressed doubt, citing the misleading nature of certain advertisements. “When you run ads that fact-checkers have proven to be lies, you can connect the dots,” he remarked, seeming bitter about his roughly 50 years in government were now over.

The Republican victory in Ohio not only marked the end of Brown’s Senate career but also played a crucial role in shifting control of the Senate to the GOP, altering the nation’s political landscape. The GOP will have a 53 seat majority in 2025.