Brown Wins Ohio Democratic Senate Nomination in Election Contest

Sherrod Brown won Ohio’s Democratic Senate nomination on Tuesday in the election contest and will face Republican Sen. John Husted in the general election. Brown’s victory sets up a race for the seat that will fill the final two years of JD Vance’s Senate term.

Brown and Husted in Ohio

Brown, the former longtime Democratic senator from Ohio, defeated Ron Kincaid for the nomination. Kincaid is an IT professional and Special Olympics coach.

Husted ran unopposed for the Republican Party’s Senate nomination. He is Ohio’s former lieutenant governor and was appointed to replace Vice President JD Vance in the Senate.

2024 and the Ohio Senate race

Brown served three decades in Congress before losing re-election in 2024 to Bernie Moreno. The general election will now pit him against Husted as Republicans try to hold their 53-47 Senate majority.

Ohio has shifted to the right over the past decade, and Trump carried the state by 11 points in the 2024 election. Even so, this year’s Senate and governor’s races are expected to be very competitive, making Brown’s nomination the starting point for a contest with consequences beyond Ohio.

JD Vance cast his ballot in Cincinnati during Ohio’s primary election on Tuesday. The November winner will decide who serves the last two years of Vance’s Senate term, giving the state’s voters the final say on a seat that has already changed hands once this cycle.