Sen. Sherrod Brown says he’s a target, pointing at opponents’ wealth and funding

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown shared his perspective as he prepares for a sole Republican challenger to emerge from a contested primary, where three candidates are trying for the chance to unseat the incumbent U.S. senator for Ohio.

As a GOP primary debate hosted by Nexstar approaches, Brown spoke about his upcoming reelection campaign with debate moderators Colleen Marshall of NBC4 and Joe Toohey of Fox 8 in Cleveland on Tuesday. The interview was one of few opportunities to hear from Brown on the race, as he faces no primary challengers and has avoided giving attention to the Republican hopefuls before voters weed two of them out.

Brown did, however, predict that the race would draw huge donations from groups trying to stop his reelection.

“It will probably be the most expensive [race in the country] because interest groups all over the country are going to put millions of dollars in, that’s what they do to defeat people like me,” Brown said.

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Fundamentally, Ohioans know that Brown is on their side, he said. Brown claimed that he would win his reelection campaign by doing his job and focusing on the dignity of work. He said that he has done this over the years by taking on interest groups and fighting for people.

As the debate between his potential challengers looms, Brown said he would keep his focus on work at the U.S. Capitol, which he said includes rail safety, trade agreements and holding Wall Street accountable.

“I’ll let the rich guys fight it out in the primary,” Brown said.

Brown appeared to be referencing the wealthy backgrounds of his opponents. Personal financial disclosure documents revealed a significant difference in the candidates’ finances in December.

“Two of them are going to spend millions and millions of family money,” Brown said. “I don’t know if they made the money, I don’t know if their family did, I don’t know how many generations of wealth they’ve had. Let them do that, that’s what they’re going to do.”

The candidates that Brown is likely referring to are Moreno and Dolan. Moreno has criticized both Brown and his Republican opponents for growing up in elite or privileged lifestyles despite previously commenting that he himself came from “outsized privilege” and that his father’s family home was “so large that it was converted into the embassy for Germany.” Dolan’s background will be familiar to many, as his family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team.

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While Brown posits that much of his opponents’ funding will come from their wealthy family backgrounds, he said that he is primarily funded by small donations.

“Most of our money, I know this because it’s the way we write our budget, will come from $5, $10, $25, $50, $100 and $200 contributions,” Brown said.

Because of this, Brown said he expects to be outspent in the general election and that he usually is. He said that this shows he is the candidate who will stand up for the people.

“My opponents, who raise tens of millions, literally, from special interests groups, if history is an indication they will look out for the drug companies, look out for the Wall Street concerns, look out for the oil companies and look out for these multinational corporations that don’t mind sucking jobs out of Youngstown or Mansfield or Dayton or Hamilton or Middletown or Lima to pad their bottom line,” Brown said.

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Brown concluded by giving his thoughts on each Republican candidate.

“I think he’s a guy that’s very wealthy, ambitious, loves to say he’s an outsider but he’s done quite well with his political connections all over this state and maybe all over the country,” Brown said on Moreno.

“He tried to change ballot language, tried to change the rules, made it harder for people to vote, made it harder to pass a ballot issue,” Brown said on LaRose. “All because he was so much on the wrong side of women’s reproductive rights. He’s an extremist on abortion.”

“I wish he’d spend the money he’s spending in this race on a power-hitting right fielder for Cleveland,” Brown said on Dolan.

Brown’s full interview will appear on NBC4’s The Spectrum, which will air Sunday at 10 a.m.

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