Sherrod Campbell Brown ( ; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Ohio. Previously, he served in the Ohio House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, was Ohio secretary of state from 1983 to 1991, and was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and has been described as a populist.
A native of Mansfield, Ohio, Brown graduated from Yale University and Ohio State University. Brown was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006, defeating two-term Republican incumbent Mike DeWine. He was reelected in 2012 and 2018. Throughout his tenure, Brown chaired the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and served on the Committees on Finance, Veterans' Affairs, and Ethics.
Brown ran for reelection to a fourth term in 2024, but lost to Republican Bernie Moreno. He is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 U.S. Senate special election in Ohio, challenging incumbent senator Jon Husted.
Early life, education, and academic career Sherrod Brown was born in Mansfield, Ohio, on November 9, 1952, the son of Emily () and Charles Gailey Brown, M.D.1. Sherrod Campbell Brown from freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com He has Scottish, Irish, German, and English ancestry, and was named after his maternal grandfather. He is one of three brothers. Brown's brother, Charlie, served as Attorney General of West Virginia from 1985 to 1989. Brown's other brother, Robert, was an attorney and graduate of Harvard Law School. Brown became an Eagle Scout in 1967; his badge was presented by John Glenn. In 1970, he graduated from Mansfield Senior High School.
In 1974, Brown received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Yale University. While at Yale, he lived in Davenport College, and he campaigned for George McGovern during the 1972 presidential election. He went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in education and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Ohio State University at Columbus in 1979 and 1981, respectively. He taught at Ohio State University's Mansfield branch campus from 1979 to 1981.
Early political career During his senior year in college, Brown was recruited by a local Democratic leader to run for Ohio's state house. Brown served as a state representative in Ohio from 1974 to 1982. At the time of his election to the Ohio House, he was the youngest person elected to that body. In 1982 Brown ran for Ohio secretary of state to succeed Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr. He won a four-way Democratic primary that included Dennis Kucinich, and then defeated Republican Virgil Brown in the general election. In 1986 Brown was reelected, defeating Vincent C. Campanella. As Secretary of State, Brown focused on voter registration outreach. In 1990 he lost reelection in a heated campaign against Republican Bob Taft, the future governor of Ohio and great-grandson of President William Howard Taft.
U.S. House of Representatives
1992 election
In 1992, Brown moved from Mansfield to Lorain, Ohio, and won a heavily contested Democratic primary for the open seat for Ohio's 13th district, in the western and southern suburbs of Cleveland, after eight-term incumbent Don Pease announced his retirement. The Democratic-leaning district gave him an easy win over the little-known Republican Margaret R. Mueller. He was reelected six times.
Tenure The Democrats lost their long-held House majority in the 1994 elections, and stayed in the minority for the remainder of Brown's tenure. As ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee, Brown successfully advocated for increased funding to fight tuberculosis.
In 2005, Brown led the Democratic effort to block the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). For many months, Brown worked as whip on the issue, securing Democratic "nay" votes and seeking Republican allies. After several delays, the House of Representatives finally voted on CAFTA after midnight on July 28, passing it by one vote.
Brown opposed an amendment to Ohio's constitution that banned same-sex marriage. He was also one of the few U.S. representatives to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996."Roll Call vote, Defense of Marriage Act" clerk.house.gov. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
Committee assignments Brown was the ranking minority member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee. He also served on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet and the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. While serving on the House International Relations Committee, he was also a member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
U.S. Senate Elections 2006
In August 2005, Brown announced he would not run for the United States Senate seat held by two-term Republican incumbent Mike DeWine, but in October he reconsidered his decision. His announcement came shortly after Democrat Paul Hackett stated that he would soon announce his candidacy. In February 2006, Hackett withdrew from the race, all but ensuring that Brown would win the Democratic nomination. In the May primary Brown won 78.05% of the Democratic vote. His opponent, Merrill Samuel Keiser Jr., received 21.95%.2006 Election Results from sos.state.oh.us
In April 2006, Brown, along with John Conyers, brought an action against George W. Bush and others, alleging violations of the Constitution in the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The case, Conyers v. Bush, was ultimately dismissed for lack of standing.
On November 7, 2006, Brown defeated DeWine, 56.2% to 43.8%.
2012
Brown ran for reelection in 2012, facing opponent Josh Mandel, who in 2010 defeated the incumbent state treasurer by 14 points. Mandel raised $2.3 million in the second quarter of 2011 alone, to Brown's $1.5 million. Early on Brown enjoyed a steady lead in the polls. Mandel won the March Republican primary with 63% of the vote.
The Washington Post reported that no candidate running for reelection (save Barack Obama) faced more opposition from outside groups in 2012 than Brown did. By April 2012, $5.1 million had been spent on television ads opposing him, according to data provided by a Senate Democratic campaign operative. The United States Chamber of Commerce spent $2.7 million. 60 Plus Association, a conservative group that opposes health care reform, spent another $1.4 million. Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee also spent heavily in the race. In May 2012, Brown campaigned with The West Wing actor Martin Sheen.
On November 6, 2012, Brown held his seat, winning 50.7% of the vote to Mandel's 44.7%. Independent candidate Scott Rupert received 4.6% of the vote.
2018
In 2018, Brown was reelected to a third Senate term, defeating Republican U.S. representative Jim Renacci 53.4% to 46.6%.
2024
In 2024, Brown ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and in the general election faced the Republican nominee, businessman Bernie Moreno. Brown lost by 206,434 votes and earned 46.5% of the vote, to Moreno's 50.1%. Moreno's victory contributed to a Republican Senate majority in the 119th United States Congress.
2026
In August 2025, Brown announced his campaign for Ohio's Class III Senate seat in the 2026 special election to finish the term of Vice President JD Vance.
Brown won the March Democratic primary, and will face the incumbent appointed Senator Jon Husted in the general election.
Tenure
Brown is a staunch critic of free trade and has taken progressive stances on financial issues. He has pushed for the Democratic Party to adopt a more populist approach, focusing on issues affecting working-class Americans. He was appointed co-chair of the Joint Multiemployer Pension Solvency Committee in 2018.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown proposed a bill that would let workers immediately receive paid sick days, allowing them to stay home and self-quarantine if feeling sick or in the event of any public health emergency. Brown argued this would help slow the spread of the virus in workplaces. He criticized Republicans for blocking the proposal but thought that the House would pass similar measures.
After President Donald Trump was impeached in December 2019, Brown voted to remove him from office. During the January 2020 impeachment trial, he supported Republicans bringing witnesses to testify, so long as testimony from witnesses such as National Security Advisor John Bolton was also allowed.
Brown pushed for legislation in 2020 that would require the EPA to more strictly regulate perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. He and other Democrats voted also to block two pieces of anti-abortion legislation.
Brown pushed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in 2021 to establish the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence in Ohio.
He called in July 2024 for Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election.
Committee assignments (118th Congress) Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems, and Food Safety and Security Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (chair) Committee on Finance Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy (chair) Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Caucus memberships Senate Taiwan Caucus
Post-Senate Since his defeat in the 2024 United States Senate election in Ohio and the end of his tenure as Senator, Brown has returned to private life. In his farewell speech, he promised to remain active in public life, and stated his departure was "not [...] the last time you will hear from me."
In January 2025, Harvard Kennedy School announced that Brown would be a Spring 2025 Visiting Fellow, and in March 2025, he launched the Dignity of Work Institute. Brown wrote an op-ed in The New Republic in March 2025, claiming that "Democrats Must Become the Workers' Party Again" and a guest essay in The New York Times entitled "What Worries Me Most About Trump’s Failing Economy" in April.
On August 12, 2025, it was reported that Brown would run in the 2026 United States Senate special election in Ohio, challenging Republican incumbent Jon Husted. He officially announced his candidacy on August 18, 2025.
Potential national campaigns
Despite being one of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders's closest allies in the U.S. Senate, Brown nevertheless endorsed former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and campaigned for her in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary in Ohio. During the 2016 campaign season, he said he had no interest in being vice president, but he was vetted as a potential vice-presidential running mate for Clinton. The choice came down to Brown and Virginia senator Tim Kaine, who was ultimately selected. Brown had the distinct disadvantage that had Clinton won, Ohio's Republican governor John Kasich would have chosen Brown's replacement in the Senate, whereas Kaine's replacement would be chosen by Democrat and Clinton ally Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe.
The Washington Monthly suggested in 2017 that Brown could unite the establishment and progressive wings of the Democratic Party as a presidential candidate in 2020. Cleveland.com reported in 2018 that he was "seriously" considering a presidential run. After winning his third Senate term in the 2018 election, he began exploring a run in January 2019 for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. He announced in March that he would not run for president and would instead remain a senator.
Political positions