Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown made it official this week.
With a campaign video and email early Monday morning, the former U.S. Senator announced he will take on Sen. Jon Husted next year.
The announcement ends speculation that Brown would run for governor.
The move makes Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer happy. He lobbied Brown to help Democrats regain control of the Senate.
The move disappoints some Democrats and labor leaders who believe Brown would have had the best chance of beating Vivek Ramaswamy in the race for governor.
To digest this decision and look at what it means for the 2026 Ohio election, we turn to a panel of Statehouse veterans: Statehouse reporters Laura Bischoff of the USA Today Ohio Network and Andrew Tobias of Signal Statewide, along with Republican strategist Terry Casey and Ohio State political scientist Herb Asher.
Snollygoster of the week
There is a long tradition on Ohio State's campus of student activists using sidewalk chalk to advocate for a cause, campaign for student government or alert fellow students to a weekend social gathering.
It’s generally harmless because it’s chalk, and the messages usually disappear with the next rain.
Not anymore. OSU leaders have banned chalking on university sidewalks.
The university said chalking now violates University Signage Standards, which is a comprehensive system of building, pedestrian and vehicular wayfinding signage designed to create a consistent experience for navigating Ohio State campuses.
Could chalk messages about the war in Gaza have prompted this new standard? OSU has been very careful not to be seen as taking a stand that might draw attention from the Trump administration.