Sherrod Brown Wins Ohio Senate Seat as Democrats Take Governor's Race

Former Senator Sherrod Brown has narrowly won back an Ohio seat in the U.S. Senate. As of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Ohio Democrat leads incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted by more than 2 percentage points, according to the Associated Press.

Ohio also elected its first Democratic governor since 2006. Shortly before the Senate race was called, Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy conceded to Democrat Amy Acton.

“This will be one of the happiest nights of my life.”

Republican groups and Donald Trump's allies poured more than 300 million dollars into October advertising against Democratic candidates for the Senate and governor's office. The crypto industry's main super PAC, Fairshake, spent more than 55 million dollars to block Brown's return after investing 41 million dollars in 2024.

Husted was appointed in 2025 to complete the remainder of J.D. Vance's Senate term. He campaigned as a business-minded conservative aligned with the White House but struggled to become well known among voters.

Brown, 73, repeated his nearly five-decade economic populist message about a political system rigged for billionaires against workers. He found support among voters concerned about the cost of living and corruption.

Brown was first elected to the House in 1992 and to the Senate in 2006. A recent Bowling Green State University poll found that a quarter of Ohio voters thought Brown was the incumbent, not Husted.

Mike Schedek, attending a Democratic watch party in Columbus with his wife, said the victory would be one of the happiest nights of his life, apart from the night he married his wife.