Editor’s Note: The following column was published in the Vindicator Jan. 16.

Neither U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, a Republican, nor his Democratic challenger, Sherrod Brown, a former 18-year senator, lack confidence when it comes to believing they will win Mahoning and Trumbull counties during the November election.

I spoke with both of them late last week about the election as well as their positions on a number of other issues.

Husted was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 by Gov. Mike DeWine after serving six years as his lieutenant governor. Before that, he was secretary of state and speaker of the Ohio House.

BROWN TOUTS VALLEY TIES

The best-known Democrat in Ohio, Brown spent three terms in the U.S. Senate before losing in 2024 by 3.6% to Republican Bernie Moreno. Before that, he spent 14 years in the U.S. House and eight years as Ohio’s secretary of state.

Until the 2024 election, Brown had never lost Mahoning or Trumbull counties.

Brown went from getting 73.5% of the Mahoning County vote in 2006, which was a huge Democrat wave election, to 48.3% last year, which was a big election for Republicans with Donald Trump running again for president.

Moreno beat Brown by 0.2 of a percent in Mahoning.

In Trumbull County, Brown received 73.1% of the vote in 2006, compared with 45.2% last year, with Moreno winning the county. Moreno beat Brown in Trumbull by 5.71% – a higher percentage than Moreno’s overall performance in Ohio.

The two former longtime Democratic county strongholds have become significantly more Republican since Trump first ran for president in 2016. That’s been particularly evident in Trumbull, where Republicans have won every contested race on the 2022 and 2024 ballots.

Brown largely blames his loss in 2024 on the popularity of Trump, who’s won Ohio in three straight presidential elections.

While Brown lost to Moreno by 3.6%, Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2024, lost Ohio to Trump by 11.2%.

“I understand when Trump did an ad saying, ‘Voting for Sherrod Brown is voting against me;’ I understand all of that,” Brown said of his loss. “But I also understand my connection to the Valley for so many years. The fact that you saw me almost once a month for 18 years, I have a rapport with the Valley [that’s] unusual for a politician in either party that doesn’t live there. I would not assume, because I’m going to earn it, that many, many of those voters are coming back.”

HUSTED GAINS VALLEY LABOR SUPPORT

Husted sees it differently.

Husted pointed out the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66, which represents Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, endorsed him in this Senate race after backing Brown in 2024.

The IUOE Local 18, which represents Ohio’s other 85 counties, also endorsed Husted for the 2026 election after supporting Brown in the 2024 campaign.

“This time they’re endorsing me,” Husted said of Local 66. “Why is that? It’s because I’ve worked with them over time to build infrastructure when I was lieutenant governor and in the Legislature. The stuff that matters to people — jobs, infrastructure. I have been involved with the Mahoning County Career [& Technical] Center expansion and the additive manufacturing movement in the Mahoning Valley and the businesses that create jobs.”

Husted added, “I also have the same values as people there. I’m for eliminating men from women’s sports, something Sherrod was on the other side of. I’m for closing the border down so we don’t have illegals coming here taking jobs, lowering wages, something that he was on the other side of. People in the Mahoning Valley get that, and that’s why they’re for us, and we will win. But I never take them for granted. I will work to earn every vote. He’s spent his last 32 years in Washington and things got worse, not better. That’s the referendum.”

Brown also sees the election as a referendum.

“I’ve taken on special interests my whole career and I fought against bad trade agreements, stood up to presidents of both parties. I’ve always taken on those interest groups, not just trade agreements, but the banks and utility companies and the drug companies. The people in the Valley understand that the system is rigged. It’s gotten worse in the last year. Jon Husted is part of that where he’s fronted for the drug companies and Wall Street and the oil companies and especially the electric utilities and that contrast is very clear. A guy who spent his whole career fighting against special interests against a guy who spent his whole career fronting for the special interests.”

David Skolnick covers politics for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.