The U.S. Senate is up for grabs. Can this Ohio Democrat win back working class votes?

Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his Ohio Senate seat two years ago, is campaigning to win it back from Republican Sen. Jon Husted, in a contest rated a toss-up that could decide which party controls the Senate during the last two years of President Trump's term. Brown, 73, who served three Senate terms and has spent 50 years in public office, is leaning heavily on organized labor to carry him, and early voting begins Oct. 6, according to NPR.

Union members are canvassing, phoning voters and attending rallies, trying to reverse a trend that began in 2016, when Trump took 54% of Ohio union households to Hillary Clinton's 41%. Volunteer Dave Janiszewski, a retired steel and paper plant worker, points to Brown's opposition to NAFTA, his presence on picket lines and his 2021 law protecting union pensions, the Butch Lewis Act.

Brown lost to Republican businessman Bernie Moreno by under 4 percentage points in 2024, while Trump beat Kamala Harris in Ohio by more than 11. Labor is split this year. Dorsey Hager of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council acknowledges many members backed Trump, yet his council endorsed Brown.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NPR’s reporting. Read the full story at NPR →