POLITICS

Sen. Sherrod Brown endorses fellow Democrat Tim Ryan in U.S. Senate race

The Columbus Dispatch

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate, was endorsed Wednesday by Ohio's senior senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown.

Sen. Sherrod Brown announced Wednesday that he's backing Rep. Tim Ryan in Ohio's Senate race, the latest sign that Democrats are coalescing around Ryan as they aim to flip a key seat.

In a statement, Brown said Ryan has fought to ensure Ohioans "get a fair shot" and would be a staunch ally for working people in the state.

"I know Tim, and I know whose side he's on," Brown said in a statement. "He's not in this for himself or for corporate special interests — he has dedicated his life to fighting for Ohioans, and their jobs and their wages and their communities."

Ryan is vying for the Democratic nomination against attorney Morgan Harper, a progressive who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Joyce Beatty in the 3rd Congressional District. Beatty and Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur also endorsed Ryan, and he's received support from a slew of state and local Democrats across Ohio.

The Democratic primary is far less tumultuous than the Republican side, where six well-funded candidates are sparring for the chance to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman. Democrats see the race as an opportunity to gain another seat in a divided Senate, even though Brown is the only Democrat who has been elected to a partisan statewide office in Ohio over the past decade.

“A new voice with a fresh vision for Ohio's economy is the future,” Harper said in a statement. “Ohioans can't afford to let a far-right extremist like Josh Mandel or JD Vance win this Senate seat — and that means that Democrats can't afford to run the same old playbook.”

Brown will be up for reelection in 2024 if he chooses to run again.

"Sherrod has proven again and again that the way to win in Ohio is by showing up and talking to workers, and that’s exactly what we’re doing in every corner of this state," Ryan said.

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.