As the Democratic National Convention went into its final day in Chicago, incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown was in southern Ohio, campaigning in what is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country.
Brown was in Pike County for the groundbreaking of a middle school which is being built with federal funds to replace a school that was closed because of concerns about radioactive contamination from the shut-down uranium processing plant in Piketon. Brown then stopped to talk to volunteers who were canvassing for him in Chillicothe, where his Republican opponent Bernie Moreno started a bus tour Aug. 5.
Brown said he skipped the convention for a simple reason: “I spent the week talking to Ohioans. There are a lot more Ohioans in Ohio than there are in Chicago.”
Brown had announced a few weeks ago that he wouldn't attend the DNC, though he has attended conventions since 1996 and was a featured speaker in 2016. Another Democratic incumbent in a tight race in a Republican state, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), also skipped the convention.
Ohio Republicans put up "missing" posters in Chicago saying Brown skipped the convention to hide his progressive record. But Brown said he supports Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I’ll campaign with her or with Tim Walz," Brown said. "I think they probably won't spend a lot of time here because we're not the swing state we were. But if my schedule works, I will, of course I will.”
Last week Moreno called out Brown for suggesting he might campaign with Harris and Walz, which he has called "the most radical presidential ticket in history."
The Brown-Moreno race is already likely the most expensive U.S. Senate race in Ohio history, with both candidates spending and money pouring in from outside groups.
“They’re going to outspend me. That’s why these 30 or 40 volunteers that are taking time away from their lives, knocking on doors, making phone calls, signing postcards, speaking to their friends really matters because we’ll outwork them. There are a lot more of us then there are of them," Brown said.
The money in politics tracking site Open Secrets said the Ohio Senate race is the second most expensive in the country, with $104 million spent by the candidates and by outside groups so far.
