Sherrod Brown will challenge Jon Husted in a key Senate race in 2026.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — In November 2026, Democrat Sherrod Brown will face incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Husted in a competitive race for the U.S. Senate.
In 2024, Brown lost his seat, which he held since 2007, to Sen. Bernie Moreno.
Now, he will compete against Husted for the seat vacated by Vice President JD Vance.
“Brown’s entry certainly changes the dynamics,” said Dr. Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville University.
Dr. Smith said Brown’s announcement is the “best case scenario” for democrats.
“If you have to place a wager on it, I would say Republicans at the statewide level are going to be favored in Ohio as a general rule, but Sherrod Brown has been very competitive and even in the last election cycle in which he lost, he outperformed other Democrats on the state and nationwide ballot, so I suspect it will be a competitive race,” he said.
As Democrats struggle in Ohio in recent years, Brown may have to change up his strategies, according to Morgan Harper, democratic strategist.
“Spending a lot less time trying bring people back who have gone to Trump and a lot more in ‘How do we motivate people who are on our side to begin with, but might not show up if they don’t hear something different in this campaign,’” Harper said.
She said Brown’s campaign needs to focus on attracting people who are unsure about going to the polls.
“We need to make sure we are speaking to the constituencies that have to show up to vote in big, big numbers to have a chance at being successful here. That is speaking to what young voters really care about, what a lot of Black voters care about — these things cannot be an afterthought, they have to be at the forefront of the campaign from the start and rebuilding trust among a lot of these constituencies that have turned away from Democrats in Ohio,” Harper said.
Dr. Smith said the race could have major implications, and will be one to watch nationwide.
“I think it is very possible this race could dictate the outcome of which party controls the U.S. Senate, and as we are looking right now, that could have a lot to say about presidential appointments, it could have something to say with Supreme Court nominations and other things that could be really critical in the Senate,” he said.
Because there is over a year until the election, Dr. Smith said it could also be dictated by how the economy is doing, and what is happening internationally.
The special election will take place Nov. 3, 2026.
