Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced Thursday that he has decided against a 2020 presidential run. “Connie and I have spent the last few months traveling around the country to make dignity of work a centerpiece of Democrats’ 2020 campaign, and we are so grateful to everyone who has welcomed us into their communities and into their lives,” Brown said, reflecting on a tour that took him to the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.
“We’ve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it—because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us,” he continued. “It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern. That’s why I’m confident it will continue to be a focus for Democrats in 2020, and I plan on making sure that happens.”
Instead of jumping into a crowded presidential primary, where Brown would have to jockey for name recognition and money while giving up a Senate seat in a state tilting increasingly red, the senator said he will keep his current job. “I will keep calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism,” Brown said in the statement. “I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate.” —Gideon Resnick
