COLUMBUS, Ohio– Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown made clear during a farewell speech Tuesday that he has no intention of giving up his career-long fight for American workers, despite suffering from a bitter defeat last month in Ohio, where it became almost impossible that his party would win statewide elections.
“This is my last speech this year, but it is not, I promise, the last time you will hear from me,” Brown, 72, said in his trademark gravelly voice after addressing staff and family. Thank you. members watching in the Senate chamber. Sometimes he fought back tears.
It was a telling comment, given Brown’s high political profile in his native Ohio. The state’s political observers are already mentioning his name as a possible candidate for the elections Senate seat is vacated by Republican JD Vancethe vice president-elector for governor. In 2026, both offices will be up for grabs.
Brown said only that he would return to Ohio in January as a “private citizen” and that people who love the country are “fighting for the people who make it work every day.”
The Democrat blasted the Washington establishment for caving to Wall Street’s interest in workers, with painful consequences for places like his hometown of Mansfield, Ohio. He said he learned from his parents – conservative and liberal – “that the role of government was to help the little guy. The big boys can take care of themselves.”
This fall, Brown unsuccessfully delivered a similar message to voters, losing his reelection bid to the Republican Bernie Morenoa Cleveland businessman and newcomer to public office, by about 3.5 percentage points. Campaigns and outside groups successfully spent nearly $300 million on what was one of Republicans’ top targets nationally turned the room around.
That’s because the former secretary of state has moved hard to the right and supported Donald Trump for president three times.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Brown — a pro-union senator who has consistently been among the House’s most liberal members — took a swipe at the idea that the president-elect’s move can be called “populist.”
“True populism uplifts all people. True populism does not bring others down. True populism does not play on race and division,” he said. “True populism is essentially about the dignity of work, putting workers at the center of everything we should do.”
Brown touted key achievements of his 18-year career in the Senate, which he said will have lasting impacts on working families. He mentioned expanding health care for veterans who are exposed toxic burnshelping to thwart what he described as bad trade deals the Trans-Pacific Partnershipsaving for pensions more than one million employees of Delphi Corpand limiting the price of insulin for Medicare patients for $35.
“These victories don’t come easy. Of course not, but they are important to millions of families,” Brown said. “When we stand up for the special interests of companies, when we guarantee workers a seat at every table, when we see decisions here through the eyes of workers, we all do our jobs a little differently – and better.”