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Former U.S.

Senator Sherrod Brown talks about why he's running to be Ohio's future.

U.S. senator and current U.S.

Senator Bernie Marino takes questions and some he's at the City Club of Cleveland.

That's this week in the state of Ohio.

Welcome to the state of Ohio.

I'm Karen Kasler.

It was the announcement that both Democrats and Republicans had been waiting on for very different reasons.

Democratic three term former U.S.

Senator Sherrod Brown officially launched his campaign to return to the chamber next year, defuzing the hopes of those who wanted him to run for governor.

If he is the nominee, he'll face likely Republican nominee John Houston, appointed to the Senate in January to fill out the rest of now Vice President JD Vance's Senate term, which ends in 2028.

My statehouse news Bureau college girl sat down with Brown to talk about why he's running, which he announced 286 days after he lost to Republican newcomer Bernie Marino by just under 4% when President Trump won Ohio by more than 11 points.

me.

Well, I spent my career taking on interest groups, essentially a system that's rigged against workers.

You know, I fought against that.

And, you know, whether that's when corporate corporations are making more money than ever.

Corporate executives are doing big stock buybacks, giving themselves bonuses.

Workers are more productive, but workers are they're seeing more money go out than coming in.

And I've always I spent my career, taking those interest groups on, over the last eight months, it's gotten worse.

Drug prices have gone up, grocery prices have gone up, big tax cuts for the wealthy.

We've seen a three, $3 trillion addition to the federal deficit.

We've seen and far too many cases, workers are just getting left further behind.

And I've seen that over the last eight, eight months.

And I realize that Ohio doesn't have anyone.

Ohio workers don't have any money fighting for them in the U.S. Senate.

And I want to go back and continue, going after those interest groups, making sure I don't get them.

So I workers have a better, you know, a better, standard of living.

You know, workers get a fair shake.

Specifically, why did you decide to go to the U.S. Senate versus running for governor?

Because I look around and see that Ohio workers don't really have anybody advocating for them.

They see drug prices go higher.

They see, we all see corporate profits are up.

Workers aren't sharing in the wealth they create.

I believe I couldn't stand on the sidelines, and I believe I could do the best for Ohio workers by going back to the Senate and being that strong voice for workers.

When I say workers, I, I mean union members nonunion.

I mean, you know, a McDonald's worker, a home care worker, a steel worker, somebody who works in the back office, an insurance company, somebody that works at a grocery store, workers who are simply not getting a fair shake from their government and your workers realize that that, corporations are going to going to try to extract as much money as they can from their paychecks and, at the checkout line, but workers would like to see somebody in government that's not so co-opted by interest groups.

We have John Houston running for the seat.

He's been for his whole career.

He has been a guy that's that's, that's been in state government for a quarter century.

Has has, continued to side with utility companies and banks and Wall Street and drug companies.

And so it's no surprise when he came to the Senate that he continues to do that with every vote he casts, the rich get richer and workers get hurt.

And that's really the contrast in that, this race.

So the fundraising numbers came in the day after you announced, $3 million.

Did you raise that?

Oh, one day I will raise 24 hours.

We raise more money than anybody ever has.

And in the, it's money from all 88 counties.

90% of the contributions are over, on or under $100.

The average contribution was, I don't know, $40, something like that.

Because people understand, the system is rigged against workers.

And we got a lot of people that wrote $25 checks, $15 checks, or went online and contributed at that amount.

Because they want somebody that will be strong voice when they know.

People know that John Houston it's always going to side with the utility companies.

The electric companies are always going to decide us.

He's always going to decide in favor of Wall Street.

He's always going to side in politics.

It's not politics is not really left or right.

It's whose side you on.

And I've always been on the side of workers in John Hughes.

That's always been on the side of corporate interests, his career in state government, and now that he's in the federal government, shows that as my career shows, that I'll side with workers.

Do you have any idea how many total donations you got in that 24 hour account of tens of thousands?

Oh, wow.

I mean, it doesn't that when 90% of the contributions are under $100 and you raise 3.6 million, whatever, whatever the number, and and I'm particularly proud that it's from all 88 counties in Ohio, because I don't know if anybody's ever done that had contributions essentially from everyone.

Most people get their contributions from Cleveland or Columbus or Cincinnati or Toledo or Dayton.

We got contributions from people that saw that.

I knew I was going to going to announce, they probably heard it in public, probably heard on public radio or public television.

And they, they wanted to be part of it.

Money is likely to flood Ohio next year.

We know that on the Republican side, we've got Vic Ramaswamy.

He's already raised a tremendous amount of money.

He's got the potential to raise far more funds.

Do you think that, he will sweep Houston in with that money advantage?

Oh, I don't think it's at all clear who's going to win the governor's race.

I think that, you know, an out-of-state, out-of-state billionaire, trying to come in here and buy an office, but we've seen that before.

We've.

And it's unfortunate that, I don't I don't know how that race affects this one, but I do know that that my focus is going to be in Ohio.

Workers, as as always has been, I will be outspent, I always, pretty much always have been on hundreds of literally.

There are more there's more money spent against me two years there last year than I believe any Senate race in history.

So they'll they'll try to do that when you when you stand up to the drug companies and you stand up to the electric companies and you stand up to Wall Street, of course they want to beat you.

And that's that's why every race I've run, millions of dollars have come in to defeat me.

I wear that with pride.

I mean, I, I think that, I welcome, as I think FDR said, I welcome their enmity, that they think I'm a threat, to their power and their corporate profits.

And I want companies to do well in Ohio.

So I worked with small business, my whole career.

But I don't want it at the expense of Ohio workers.

The political landscape right now is different than it was in 2018, and it's even different than it was, in 2024.

Right.

And how does that affect you?

Well, in 2020 and 2025, we have seen a rigged system already.

Get worse.

Drug prices up, grocery prices up.

The the bill that that, John you said voted for, in a few weeks ago, will mean 490,000 Ohioans lose their health insurance.

Think about that state of 12 million, almost 500,000 will lose their health insurance.

Think of that in a in rural Ohio, where if a hospital closes and there's talk already of up to a dozen hospitals close, if a hospital closes in rural Ohio, it means people have to drive 30, 40, 50 miles to deliver a baby to if they have an emergency situation.

It also means, as bad as that is.

I mean, some of these hospitals, as these hospitals close, more often than not, these hospitals in small towns are the biggest employer in town.

So it means a big loss of jobs in a small town that can't afford that.

So when when John Husted cast his vote essentially to close rural hospitals to take away insurance for 500,000 people, almost, he does it because does it at the same time is running up the debt an actual debt by $3 trillion in does it all to provide a tax cut to, to to billionaires.

A huge tax cut to billions?

Yes.

You ask the question, whose side are you on?

I would have voted against that because I want to preserve health insurance.

I want to get a fairer tax system.

I don't want rural hospitals to close.

And he does.

And so you make this contrast.

Whose side are you on?

And he's on the side of the billionaires.

He's on the side a big drug company.

He's on the side of Wall Street.

I'm on the side of workers.

I mean, you're you're going to hear that throughout the campaign that, that again, politics is a left or right, a two sided on and and you know, Joe, all the time we've talked and I'm on the side of workers and I always have been and always will be.

What did you learn in 2024 that will help you, and your bid in 2026?

I think I learned that, oh, it was time for.

I mean, I already kind of knew this, how important it is to listen to workers, how important it is that Congress respond to this.

I think that, I, you know, last year and this year, I go to the grocery store after church, and I saw people at the checkout line, sometimes, not often, but sometimes realized they had to put put things back on the shelf, or at least not take them to the checkout counter because they couldn't afford it.

And, we need to pay more attention to that as elected officials and as candidates do.

Do you feel any responsibility to help the Democrats who are running at the statewide level?

A lot of them were kind of hanging back and kind of waiting to see what you did.

And now that they know, you know, we might see more candidates come in, but do you feel responsibility to help sweep them in with coattails or anything like, I, I don't really know how you do that.

My focus is on, my focus is on workers.

I like I said, I think that, my role as a, as an Ohio Democrat is that, that others running for office will follow, listen to and follow what I'm saying, because I, I win elections because of my focus on workers.

I think Ohio Democrats need to do the same.

And I think if they do, we will win more elections.

The Trump factor, it's an issue in Ohio.

Trump, is driving the movement in Ohio right now.

How will you navigate that and how will you attract those voters, especially voters in labor who, were once very steadily in the Democrats corner in your corner, but maybe went to Trump in recent years, working families and union members are still very much in my corner.

I don't think last fall, voters, voted for tax cuts for rich people.

I don't think voters last fall, voted for higher drug prices.

I don't think voters voted for a higher national debt of $3 trillion.

And I don't think voters voted for hospital closures in small towns or, I don't think voters voted to lose their insurance as 490,000 Ohioans will, we will make that claim.

We will make that clear.

I don't think voters think about the president in those discussions.

They think about, what's happened in our state.

I mean, I got in this race because over the last eight months, I've seen how things have gotten worse for Ohio workers, and I couldn't stay on the sidelines.

And Connie and I talked a lot about that.

And, when you see what's happening to your country and you love your country and you realize you can do something about it, that's why I want to go back to the Senate, because I, I recognize Ohio's two senators, think more about the drug companies, think more about Wall Street, think more about corporate profits than they do about workers wages and health care and pensions.

Is the Trump tide turning?

I am radio, that's your analysis.

You're the reporter.

Okay, a lot of Democrats have, kind of, wanted to know what you're going to be doing as far as how they can dovetail into your campaign.

Are you going to be campaigning with the Democrats?

How you how are you going to work?

I'm going to I'm going to run a strong campaign.

I'm an Ohio Democrat.

I'm going to run a strong campaign.

I'm going to win.

I'm going to win by focusing on the lives of workers, focusing on how their lives have gotten worse because of John Husted and other positions he's taken.

And, that will be clear to candidates up and down the ballot.

And I frankly, I think that Ohio Republicans are going to back pedal away from Houston's votes.

Last question.

Fox News is out saying that you, talk about workers dignity of work, but then you don't pay your personal taxes and that you take that money from your campaign and you use it on lavish things, extravagant things.

Do you want to respond to that?

Well, you know, that isn't true.

As a reporter that's tell me for years, all our taxes are paid.

a poll released this week from Emerson College, which experts have rated as a high credibility polling organization, shows Houston has a six point lead on Brown.

Nearly half $1 billion was spent in last November's election, when Brown lost to Bernie Marino.

Speaking of Ohio, senior U.S.

Senator was at the City Club of Cleveland this week in his first appearance before the 113 year old institution that's hosted presidents, leaders in business, science and the arts community, activists and candidates for debates.

It was also Bernie Marino's first town hall style event since he was elected last fall.

That did not escape the notice of protesters who lined the street outside the event.

The forum began with the request for tough, respectful questions in the audience Q&A section.

But it didn't take long for things to get heated, as Marino took questions from NBC news senior national political reporter and Youngstown native Henry Gomez.

you've been vocal about.

What's going on with Intel and Ohio.

You've asked for an investigation into whether the company misused some of the public assistance it's been offered for its, its plans here.

Bloomberg reported last week that the Trump administration is considering having the United States take a stake in Intel, partially to help fund Intel's Ohio commitment.

Do you support the US bailing out the company in this way?

No, no, no, it's not a bailout.

What you're told, is it?

No.

Here's what you got.

So what the chips act said with the Chips act said we're just going to write a check for $8 billion into the chips.

I said, again, you can agree that's not agreed, but that's what the Chips act set.

So Intel applied and Intel got to be exact $8.7 billion.

So the US taxpayer said, hey, we're going to give you the money.

Here you go.

Make semiconductors in America.

What's happened?

Facility sitting there.

It's a big, gigantic construction site.

It's not producing anything.

So what President Trump has say, which I 100% agree on, is if a company is going to ask for help, if a company is going to ask for money, the taxpayer should get equity.

So we have the upside.

So Intel has a market cap of roughly $80 billion.

So they're going to get $8 billion 10%.

Then we should get 10%.

And then as a company becomes successful we can sell that equity and recoup the money for the taxpayer.

To me, that's common sense.

Just giving handouts to corporations makes no sense to me.

And there has to be accountability on what the promises were made, where, by the way, the state of Ohio has already invested tremendous amounts of money widening roads and building infrastructure, and there's not going to be a fad there.

That's a problem.

That's a misuse of public dollars and a use of our trust.

So it's just two different approaches.

One is hand out to corporations.

By the way, all that does encourages grift, quite frankly.

Corporations that have better access to to DC than others versus a much more sensible solution that has tariffs along the way, which says, well, if you can make your semiconductor chips elsewhere, but we're going to put tariffs in place.

And that's the encouragement that the companies need to make them here.

And you're seeing that Nvidia and TSMC are investing hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money to build semiconductors in the US with zero, money for the US taxpayer.

Like many of you are an initial skeptic of Donald Trump back in 2016, but you have become one of his most loyal supporters in the US Senate.

He endorsed your Senate campaign.

But I'm curious, what is one issue that you would handle or approach differently than the president has, and how well he's doing in the second term?

I think in the first term, there were some hires that were problematic.

There are some people that, that I wouldn't have brought on is stage that quite a bit?

That's the big one.

Is there anything about his temperament or his approach in the second term that you look at and are like, maybe that's not the I think he's doing a great job in the second term.

We've got we've got great.

We got, we got.

Look, let him answer.

Look.

So I'll give you I'll give you an easy I'll give you an easy contrast.

I'll give you an easy contrast.

When did the war in Ukraine start?

When did the war in Ukraine start?

And everybody.

All right.

So.

So that's just I said facts.

Facts are annoying things.

I mean, that's that's that's could be that could that that's coincidental.

It started during.

It is it coincidental or how's that coincidental.

Because they took Crimea under Obama.

They what it has to do with is a projection of American strength.

Look, look, look, look what you just saw in the white House.

It's just again, good facts.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're going to have time for your your question.

I mean, you've you've endorsed legislation, suggesting that the President Trump should be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

He should 100%, 100%.

Are you are you pleased with are you pleased with this?

And I would like to I have time for like two more questions.

So I would like to get them in before we turn it over to you.

What's your major malfunction?

I would Nobel peace.

I would like to know, your thoughts on his interactions with Vladimir Putin over the last week.

I mean, was he is he giving away too much?

Is he being too deferential to to the Russian president in their meetings?

Look, the war is not America's war.

It's not America's war.

We're not there and has.

It's not.

If the war continues to, the war ends.

It doesn't change the lives of Americans.

Just to be clear, we are we have a president that's trying to end a conflict that's primarily in Europe.

The war has to be ended by the people in that war.

That's Ukraine and Russia.

You have to be able to get both sides together to the table to end the war.

Wars are very difficult to end.

They're very easy to start.

And what he's doing is exactly that, by the way, ended a conflict in Cambodia.

By the way, I'm not the only one saying he should get the Nobel Peace Prize to 70,000 monks, in Asia yesterday, by the way.

So, look, this is this is exactly what he's doing.

Ended a conflict between India and Pakistan.

These are two nuclear powers and a war in Africa.

And in a war, in eastern Europe, we have a secure border, which is a big deal.

And we're going to end the war in Ukraine.

This is what he is.

This is what American strength means.

And again, you can here's part of the problem that I find in DC, just to be super blunt.

There's people who have such deep, irrational hatred towards President Trump that literally words can't penetrate their brains because the derangement of hatred is so high.

But but that's just what I'm laying out too, is just facts.

These wars and conflicts did end in the last seven months.

You may not like that it did, but that's actually the truth of what happened.

And yes, he should and probably will end up getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

I have one more.

I have one more question for you before we turn it over, to the audience, that's a topical one, given some of the politics of this week.

Former Senator Sherrod Brown, who you unseated last year, announced that he is running in the special Senate election next year against Republican Senator John, who said, you did you did beat Sherrod Brown last year.

You mentioned how much money has been spent in that race.

What's what is his biggest strength, though?

What does John, who said most need to worry about in an election with Sherrod Brown?

What will make him, a tough opponent?

You know, I don't I'm not a political pundit.

I don't know.

I'm not I'm not somebody who's going to comment on politics.

That's your job.

My my point of view is that it's interesting to me that the Democrat Party has nobody else other than a 50 year politician who's been in DC forever, who's never had a job in the private sector, is the only solution.

I think it's sad, honestly, because as I travel the state, there's lots and lots of Democrats that are younger, more diverse, that could run, but they don't run.

That has sure.

So, so the the record of fighting for working people is different than a record of actually accomplishing something for working people.

Those are two different things.

So while I and look the guy, it's just again I look we need a strong Democrat party in this country and we don't have one right now because again, the only solution, the party that claims to be the party of youth and diversity is looking for a guy who would be almost 80 years old at the end of his term as the only answer to their equation.

That's I look at that and say, it's a shame, because what it does, it suppresses the voices in the Democrat Party that want a new generational change.

And that's just a fact.

So look, if that's it and and by the way, it's all precast for you.

If you're a Democrat, you have no choice.

You will have him as your nominee regardless of maybe if you want something different because that's what you've been given.

So it's a shame that that's the case.

But John Hughes is going to win that election is no question in my mind about that.

When you said you don't do punditry, I think he's going to win.

That's not punditry Marino also said there have been a lot of calls from businesses interested in the pixel facility in Chillicothe, which shut down this month.

Marino said while he's confident it's slow work because, in his words, what we don't want to do is replace one disaster with another.

Marino got a couple friendly questions, but there were times in the discussion that it was stopped because of interruptions, and clearly there was frustration all around, including from City Club board president Marc Ross.

In my opening, I use the phrase respectful detractors, trying to get ahead of some of the heated dialog, which obviously didn't quite work.

I would just, off script, remind everyone that if we're going to continue to get speakers, like Bernie, like Senator Marino here tonight, we have to be a little bit more thoughtful in the way we're acting in the audience.

Yes.

You don't need to hear.

Well, I think most of this audience would disagree, but I'm not going to get into a debate on that.

Marino's website features a link to the forum suggesting he had no major concerns the outcome, but several Republicans were angry.

And Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex Triana said on Thursday night that, quote, The Ohio GOP will urge candidates to avoid future events at the City Club of Cleveland.

It is not what it purports to be.

And until they foster civil adult conversation, Republicans should decline participation to avoid this spectacle.

And that is it for this week for my colleagues at the Statehouse News Bureau of Ohio Public Media.

Thanks for watching.

Please check out our website at State news.org or find us online by searching the State of Ohio Show.

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Just.

Support for the Statehouse News Bureau comes from Medical Mutual, dedicated to the health and well-being of Ohioans, offering health insurance plans, as well as dental, vision and wellness programs to help people achieve their goals and remain healthy.

More at Med mutual.com.

The law offices of Porter, right, Morris and Arthur LLP.

Porter Wright is dedicated to bringing inspired legal outcomes to the Ohio business community.

More at porterwright.com.

Porter Wright inspired Every day in Ohio Education Association, representing 120,000 educators who are united in their mission to create the excellent public schools.

Every child deserves more at OHEA.org.