Brown pulls off Senate comeback bid, beating Husted in Ohio

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) is projected to head back to the Senate, beating Sen. Jon Husted (R) in Ohio, according to Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ).

Just two years after Brown, a three-term senator, was ousted by Sen. Bernie Moreno (R) in a tough 2024 race, his comeback bid faced steep odds in the once-purple state that has become increasingly red in the President Trump era.

Brown prevailed Tuesday after polls showed him narrowly leading Husted, who was backed by Trump, against the backdrop of a promising midterm landscape for Democrats across the country.

DDHQ reported a tight race between them, one of the tighter of the night, but with Brown ahead of Husted by just more than 2 points with 83 percent of the ballots counted, projecting he would pull out the win.

DDHQ’s polling averages showed Brown ahead by 3 points in the week before the election as major forecasters rated it a toss-up.

Tuesday’s contest was a special election to fill the remainder of Vice President Vance’s term in the Senate, which was cut short when he ascended to the White House. Last year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) appointed Husted , who was then the lieutenant governor, to temporarily fill the open seat.

With his midterm win, Brown will take over the Senate seat until the next cycle but will need to run again in 2028 if he wants to secure a full, six-year term.

Brown, a rare Democrat to see statewide success in Ohio, was a major recruit for his party as it sought to capitalize on voter frustration with Trump.

A strong fundraiser, he brought in $23.1 million to Husted’s $5 million in the third quarter alone, which helped him overcome significant Republican money spent against him.

The GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund, the Trump-backed MAGA Inc. and Elon Musk’s America PAC all poured in for a reported total of $113.5 million attacking Brown, according to the Ohio Capital Journal, compared with $69.5 million in outside groups spending to attack Husted.

The Senate race in Ohio smashed records with more than $500 million in ad spending this cycle, according to AdImpact data.

The tight contest had also brought Trump and former President Obama to the state as they rallied around the Senate contest and a highly competitive fight for the governor’s mansion between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton.