Former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, who misplaced his US Senate seat in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno amid greater than $40 million in spending backed by the crypto trade, has launched an election bid for 2026.
In a Saturday discover, Brown mentioned he’ll run for Republican Senator Jon Husted’s seat within the 2026 US midterm elections — Moreno, who defeated Brown in 2024, received’t be up for reelection till 2030.
The previous senator, who was one of many extra outspoken voices on crypto within the earlier session of Congress, misplaced to Moreno with greater than 46% of the vote after a digital asset-backed political motion committee (PAC) spent greater than $40 million in media buys.
“I by no means deliberate to run for workplace once more,” Brown wrote in a Saturday X put up. “However I see what’s taking place in Washington, and I can’t stand on the sidelines. It’s a authorities for the wealthy and highly effective on the expense of on a regular basis employees. I’m preventing to vary that.”
Whereas serving in Congress as one among two senators from Ohio from 2007 to 2025, Brown was the chair of the Senate Banking Committee for 4 years and one of many extra outspoken voices calling for complete crypto laws “within the wake of FTX’s implosion” in 2022.
Although many consultants have speculated that Republicans will preserve majority management of the Senate after 2026, Brown’s potential return to the chamber might recommend that Ohio voters are dissatisfied with their present illustration.
What occurred in the course of the 2024 election in Ohio?
Defend American Jobs, a PAC affiliated with Fairshake, a committee largely backed with contributions from cryptocurrency corporations Coinbase and Ripple Labs, spent greater than $40 million on media buys to assist Moreno. Altogether, the Ohio Senate race was some of the costly within the state’s historical past, with reviews suggesting that entities had spent greater than $480 million on either side.
Fairshake, whose associates Defend American Jobs largely supported Republican candidates and Shield Progress Democratic ones, spent a reported $131 million to assist and oppose candidates within the 2024 congressional elections. The end result was that about 270 lawmakers who had been thought-about to be “pro-crypto” by the Coinbase-affiliated advocacy group Stand With Crypto received election or reelection.
In July, Fairshake reported holding about $141 million in belongings for use to affect the 2026 midterm elections. The PAC and its two associates spent greater than $2 million to assist candidates in particular congressional elections in 2025 for 3 Home seats in Virginia and Florida.
“Final yr, voters despatched a transparent message that the Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren agenda had been deeply out of contact with Ohio values,” Fairshake spokesperson Josh Vlasto informed Cointelegraph. ”We are going to proceed to assist pro-crypto candidates and oppose anti crypto candidates, in Ohio and nationwide.”
Will the previous senator change any of his coverage positions after his 2024 loss?
In Brown’s absence, underneath a Republican majority in each the Home of Representatives and Senate and backing from US President Donald Trump, Congress moved ahead with the passage of the GENIUS Act to manage fee stablecoins in 2025.
Trump signed the invoice into regulation in July, and the Home despatched payments for consideration on crypto market construction and central financial institution digital currencies to the Senate, which will likely be in recess till September.
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In one among his final messages to the Senate Banking Committee in December earlier than leaving workplace, Brown warned that Trump was “opening up our authorities to the best company bidder” and inspired the physique to be ready to deal with challenges on AI and crypto.
His preliminary marketing campaign message, launched on Monday, centered on “standing up for employees,” considerations over healthcare prices and the present route of the federal government underneath the Trump administration.
“Cryptocurrency is part of America’s financial system, and turning into extra commonplace in Ohio and all through the nation,” Brown informed Cointelegraph. “Identical to what guides all my work, my objective is to guarantee that as extra individuals use cryptocurrency, it expands alternative and lifts up Ohioans and they don’t seem to be put in danger.”
A Bowling Inexperienced State College Democracy and Public Coverage Analysis Community ballot launched in February gave Husted a six-point lead in a hypothetical race towards Brown, who had not introduced his Senate run on the time.
Husted, appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to fill then-Senator JD Vance’s seat following his resignation after being elected US vp, will likely be allowed to serve till a particular election in November 2026. Of the Senate’s 100 seats, 35 will likely be up for grabs within the midterms.
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