COLUMBUS, Ohio — CNN on Tuesday night projected that Democrat Sherrod Brown will win Ohio’s special election for the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican Sen. Jon Husted and returning to the chamber two years after Ohio voters turned him out of it.
CNN made the projection at about 11:12 p.m., with roughly 87 percent of the expected vote counted. Brown led Husted 2,011,198 votes to 1,921,992 — 48.6 percent to 46.5 percent. Libertarian William Redpath had 117,225 votes (2.8 percent) and Greg Levy 83,971 (2.0 percent).
The seat was not supposed to be on the ballot this year. Husted was appointed to it in January 2025 by Gov. Mike DeWine after JD Vance resigned from the Senate to become vice president. Tuesday’s special election decides who serves the remaining two years of the term, and Ohio voters chose the man Husted’s party beat for the state’s other seat in 2024: Brown represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 2007 to 2025 before losing re-election to Bernie Moreno.
Brown’s win flips the seat to the Democrats and moves their Senate count to 49 on CNN’s board. Control of the U.S. Senate had not been called as of publication — Democrats need 51 seats, and several races out west remained uncalled late Tuesday. J News Network’s House story and Election HQ are tracking the chamber count live.
Ohio’s other top race ended the same way: Dr. Amy Acton was elected governor, the first woman to win the office and the first Democrat in 20 years.
UPDATE — The Associated Press has also called the race for Brown. Brown addressed supporters in a victory speech Tuesday night, celebrating his return to the Senate with his wife, Connie Schultz, at his side.
In a written statement titled “Thank you, Ohio!”, Brown said: “We came together to put workers before billionaires. You voted for change. I’m ready to fight for it.”
“This is your victory,” Brown told supporters in Columbus, according to the Columbus Dispatch. “Corporations, billionaires tried to buy this election, but it turns out there’s a whole lot more of us than there are of them. Tomorrow the work begins.”
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