As Sherrod Brown makes his case along the campaign trail in Ohio for voters to send him back to Congress, the former Democratic senator has centered affordability in his platform.
Brown has focused on workers’ rights and health care access throughout his political career. As he faces Republican Sen. Jon Husted in this campaign, he’s still talking about labor and health care issues.
But Brown has also increasingly prioritized messaging on reducing everyday costs for Americans, including by capping electricity rate increases.
“Our utility bills are higher than ever because no one is holding the utility companies accountable,” Brown wrote in a Sept. 1 post on X. “It’s time we cap how much these companies can increase electricity rates and lower costs for working families.”
The messaging shift comes as Americans grapple with rising costs of living nationwide due to gas, food, and energy price increases.
Recent polling shows that cost of living will be a deciding factor for voters in determining their midterm votes. Last year, Democrats secured victories in places like New Jersey and Virginia by focusing on affordability in their campaigns.
Though Republicans such as President Donald Trump have previously tried to downplay the affordability crisis, GOP politicians embroiled in election battles, including Husted, have pivoted to address cost of living concerns. But Brown has accused Husted of driving up costs for Americans and prioritizing billionaire interests.
“The average CEO makes 300 times what their average worker makes — three hundred times,” Brown said at a campaign stop in Springboro. “And it’s only getting worse. It’s getting worse because Jon Husted is in the middle of rigging this system.”
Brown began his career in Congress in the House of Representative in 1993 before moving to the Senate in 2007. He was elected to the upper chamber three times before losing his 2024 campaign to Republican Bernie Moreno.
After JD Vance assumed the vice presidency, a 2026 special election for his former Senate seat — assumed by Husted following his appointment by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) — was required to fill the final two years of his term. It will be up again in 2028 and then return to the normal six year term.
Brown announced his campaign for Vance’s seat in August 2025, less than a year after his loss to Moreno. His fight against Husted is a key race in Democrats’ fight to wrest control of the Senate from Republicans.
(Photo: Sherrod Brown, via Sherrod Brown Campaign Facebook)