Brown Makes Steubenville Stop On Road Back To Senate
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STEUBENVILLE -- Sherrod Brown says campaign stops in Eastern Ohio communities are a big part of any statewide campaign.
"They are important because people in this part of the state don’t have a voice," Brown, who is looking to return to the U.S. Senate, said Monday while speaking with members of the media after making a presentation at a meet-and-greet in Steubenville.
"Jon Husted does nothing for these areas. He does nothing to lower prices and does nothing to fight the higher gas prices brought on by his votes on the Iran war. I’ve always fought for this area. I fought against NAFTA. I fought for lower drug prices -- and I’ll continue to do that," he added.
Brown spoke to a group of Democrats from around the region as part of a swing through the eastern part of the state that included a stop in New Philadelphia later Monday afternoon. He said he was impressed with the standing-room-only turnout in the Kyle N. Brown Auditorium at IBEW Local 246 on Fourth Street.
"I know you’re here for the same reason I am doing this," Brown said during his presentation. "You fear for your country, you see what’s happening. You see the direction we’re going, and you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, and some of you have grandnieces and nephews and great-grandkids, and you don’t want to leave a country that’s going in the wrong direction.
"You see what I see," Brown continued. "You see how rigged the system is. You know, whether you are in Wintersville or Steubenville, whether you are in St. Clairsville or in Belmont County, or in Mingo Junction -- no matter where you are from in this state, in this country, you see the system breaking."
Brown is running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the Nov. 3 election. He had served three terms in the Senate before losing a re-election bid to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024. Husted and Brown are running for the seat that had been held by J.D. Vance before he became vice president. Husted was appointed to the Senate seat by Gov. Mike DeWine in January 2025.
Depending on the poll you look at, the race, which Democrats consider essential if they are to regain control of the Senate, appears to be a dead heat.
"I’m thrilled that Sherrod Brown came to Eastern Ohio to remind people what he’s done for unions, union families and union members, as opposed to his opponent, who wants to make Ohio right to work and is against collective bargaining. Brown is definitely a friend of the unions, and we’re thrilled he’s here today," said Eddie Abdalla, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party.
Brown said the disparity in pay levels between workers and chief executive officers at corporations has gotten out of control, and employees are paying a price.
"You see that the harder you work, it’s not paying off," Brown explained. "You see what happens when corporations make more and more money and their executives are paid more and more and the profits are bigger. You are working harder and you’re more productive and there’s more money going out the door than coming in. You know that.
"According to a business analysis from a couple of months ago, the average CEO in this country is making about $17 million a year. That’s bad enough, but I think it is worse is that the average CEO is paid 300 times more than the average worker," he said.
Kevan Brown, business manager for IBEW Local 246, said before the presentation that Sherrod Brown has always stood for working men and women.
"He’s shown that over the years with the work he has done in Washington, D.C.," Kevan Brown said. "He’s fought for protecting employer pension plans and for affordable health care costs. He’s an advocate for the middle class. I feel like he’s the exact opposite of his opponent, who is more structured toward giving tax breaks and incentives to large corporations, which already have all of the money."
During his introduction, Kevan Brown said Sherrod Brown has built a career making sure working people have a voice in Washington.
"Those of us in organized labor know the difference between someone who talks about working people and someone who actually has stood with us when it matters," he said.
Mike Vitello, financial secretary of USW Local 2911 in Weirton, and Mark Glyptis, president, said Brown always has stood up for workers.
"Even though our plants are in West Virginia, Brown’s always been there for us. Anything we needed, he’s always been around for us," Vitello said.
"He’s been with us for many years. He’s been with the working man for decades," Glyptis added.
Barb Pieniazek of Wintersville, a retired teacher, agreed.
"What I’ve always found is that he stands for the working people," she said. "He’s got a lot of integrity and respect for us who aren’t millionaires or billionaires and I trust him."
During his presentation, Brown said Husted, who served as lieutenant governor before he was selected for the Senate seat, has never put average Ohioans first.
"One of the things you might not know about Jon Husted is that he’s been a special interest guy in state government in Columbus. Now he’s a special interest guy in Washington. Not much has changed for him," Brown explained.
The Husted campaign painted a different picture.
"Sherrod Brown has spent 32 years in Washington building the very system he now calls ‘rigged,’ all while raising taxes on hard-working Ohio families and handing out taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal immigrants," said Husted campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce Monday afternoon. "Ohioans fired Brown in 2024 because they were tired of paying the price for his three decades of failure."
The campaign added that Brown is backed and funded by the same people he claims to oppose, and his record in Washington proves that he actually worked for them. During his time in Washington, the Husted campaign added, Brown, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 2007, took nearly $4.9 million in campaign cash from billionaires and Wall Street, nearly $400,000 from insurance lobbyists and corporate PACs and at least $237,000 from opioid giants.
Brown also referred to Husted’s support of the Big Beautiful Bill, which he said led to 160,000 Ohioans -- proportionally the largest number in the country -- dropping their insurance. He added that Husted voted to support the Iran war 13 times, pointing out that three Ohioans have died in that conflict, and said while his motorcade was driving along U.S. Route 22, he saw some of the highest gasoline prices he has seen in the state.
Among the things Brown said he would do if elected was to push for a cap on prescription drug prices and fight to ensure members of Congress should be allowed to trade stocks. He also discussed his support of the Social Security Fairness Act, the last piece of legislation he voted on before leaving the Senate.
Royal Mayo, Steubenville’s second ward councilman, said voting for Brown makes sense.
"I think he’s the finest legislator for all Americans," Mayo said. "He’s definitely a step up for the Black community, but every working class person benefits from a person like Sherrod Brown."