Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who'll likely face a tough reelection fight in 2024, says he won't 'run from Biden': 'I run my own race, and my own brand'

• Sen. Sherrod Brown told Politico he was "fine" with Biden running on the same ballot as him in 2024.
• Brown is seeking a fourth term in the Senate and has carved out a unique appeal among Ohio voters.
• The senator has been able to appeal to base Democrats and many moderate-to-conservative Republicans.

Sherrod Brown has been a longtime Democratic institution in Ohio, having cut his teeth in politics as a member of the state House of Representatives in the mid-t0-late 1970s and early 1980s.

When Brown was first elected to the United States Senate in 2006, he won in a 12-point landslide, capturing an array of urban and rural counties across the state.

But as the years went on, Ohio, seen for years as the quintessential Midwestern swing state, became friendlier to Republicans and less receptive to Democratic messaging in its exurban and rural expanses.

Brown has been able to defy the reddening of the state's politics, though, winning reelection in 2012 and 2018 by assembling a coalition of Democrats and Independents, along with a slice of Republican voters.

And despite President Joe Biden's eight-point statewide loss to former President Donald Trump in 2020, Brown told Politico he was "fine" running alongside the president on the same ballot should the commander-in-chief seek reelection next year.

Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, told the news outlet that while Ohio likely won't be a key electoral target in Biden's 2024 calculus, he won't outwardly distance himself from the president.

The senator expressed confidence in his own populist brand of politics, which has appealed to union households, including many of the working-class voters who have drifted away from the party since former President Barack Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012.

"I run my own race, and my own brand. So, I'm not going to run from Biden," Brown told Politico. "He's also delivered more than any president in recent history."

Brown has been a strong supporter of the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act, two of Biden's most significant legislative achievements, with the senator touting both laws as highly beneficial to Ohioans.

For years, the senator has been adept at retaining enthusiastic backing from base Democrats while also earning the support of many unaffiliated and conservative voters through his longtime focus on workers' rights and labor protections.

In the 2018 Senate race, when Brown defeated then-GOP Rep. Jim Renacci, the senator won 98% of Democrats, 56% of Independents, and 11% of Republicans, per CNN exit polling.

Republicans are looking to defeat Brown, but so far, the only major candidate on the GOP side is state Sen. Matt Dolan, who sought the party's Senate nomination in 2022 but lost to now-Sen. JD Vance.