PLAIN TWP. − Sherrod Brown, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, downplayed the issue of his age as a factor that could influence voters during a campaign visit to Stark County.
"Voters want somebody who will fight for them. Voters want somebody that'll stand up to billionaires. They want somebody that'll take on Wall Street and the drug companies," he said. "And the choice is between that and a guy who's been a special-interest guy his whole career. ... It's not age. It's 'who you going to fight for?'"
Brown addressed more than 60 people Aug. 11 at The Barrel Room, 7901 Cleveland Avenue NW. He lost his bid for re-election to a fourth Senate term in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno, who is 59.
When Ohio's other senator, JD Vance, was elected vice president, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed then-Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to succeed Vance. Brown is challenging Husted, 58, a Republican, to serve the final years of Vance's term.
Brown will turn 74 six days after Election Day. If elected this year, he would be 76 at the end of the term.
The age of congressional members has become an issue following 84-year-old Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, being hospitalized earlier this year.
The U.S. Senate by late November is set to have 19 senators age 74 or older. At least three are not seeking re-election this year. Three are seeking re-election this year. At least one senator, Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has already declared he'll seek re-election in 2028 when he's 79 years old.
In his remarks to the crowd, Brown, who was a U.S. senator for Ohio from 2007 to 2024, said, "No matter how hard you work, you can't seem to get ahead."
During the debate last year over whether to add work requirements for Medicaid benefits, Husted said on Newsmax, "in this country, we've eliminated the need to work in many cases. We killed the work ethic. And now we need to give a new birth to the work ethic and restore American prosperity and save the taxpayers money."
Brown has depicted Husted's remarks on the work ethic as a criticism of Ohioans' work ethic.
"Go to Hoover High School and walk into the cafeteria and say to the cafeteria workers their work ethics' broken?" he said. "Or say the bus driver, 'Your work ethics' broken?' Or go to Aultman Hospital, and talk to a nurse working the third shift, say, 'Your work ethic is broken?' We're talking to the people that change the sheets in the (hospital) rooms or cleaning up that, 'Your worth ethic is broken?" Talking to the people preparing the food in the hospital 'your work ethic is broken? It's so insulting."
Brown criticized Husted for not supporting Democrats' proposal to extend subsidies of Affordable Care Act premiums and the resulting increase in premiums.
Husted had expressed support for a two-year extension of the subsidies as a "weaning off" period and to require people pay $5 a month toward their premiums.
Brown said to applause, "When I'm back in the Senate, we're going to stop companies from denying care that a doctor orders. We're going to fine them if they try to."
He expressed support for price caps on some medications like the price cap on insulin.
Brown talked about his work at the end of his Senate term in 2024 to pass into law the Social Security Fairness Act. And he discussed the situation of a constituent who was denied Social Security benefits due to having a small pension. The legislation ended or scaled back the inability of retirees who had certain pensions from getting Social Security benefits.
Brown appeared reluctant to comment extensively on the situation with U.S. Rep. Max Miller, R-Rocky River. Miller has refused to withdraw from his bid for re-election after his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno, accused Miller of holding a gun to her head, throwing her against a wall and putting hot scalding water on her. Miller has denied the allegations. Democratic Brook Park council member Brian Poindexter is challenging Miller.
"It's a family crisis. I don't want to make it more political than it is. He's made his decision (to stay in the race). And the voters will make theirs. (Let's) see what happens in court," said Brown.
When asked how in his first year back as a senator he would address Ohio residents' challenges in affording to pay for rising living costs, Brown said, "You end the war (with Iran), which causes immense hardships on all of us. Especially on farmers with fertilizer and diesel costs. And the end of tariffs, which have driven prices up."
He blamed corporations getting huge tax cuts. Brown said Congress needs to immediately restore the expansion of the federal child tax credit, which Congress allowed to expire after the pandemic.
Retiree Susan Sigmon, 72, of Jackson Township, who was among the attendees, said about Brown "he's the advocate for the working person. You heard the stories that he told. Those are real stories. The support that he gave those people means that he knows trickle down doesn't work. That the billionaires are only going to take care of the billionaires. And that he's got to be the advocate for Joe Bag of Donuts."
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sherrod Brown says age not a factor in US Senate race against Husted