YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Tuesday evening as his fourth Senate campaign is winding down, incumbent US Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) held a rally in Youngstown hoping to win votes in the Valley.
He took the stage at the Youngstown union hall of Teamsters Local 377 where some of his 15-minute speech centered on his efforts for the working person — like helping pass the Butch Lewis Act.
“I mean we fixed these pensions. It’s 100,000 union workers in Ohio that now have pensions and that’s the story,” Brown said.
Brown told several stories, including one from Cincinnati where he was approached by a woman who represented 1,200, mostly female, custodial workers.
“And she said we signed our first union contract. I said, what’s that mean? She looked at me and said, ‘I’m 51 years old, first time in my life I’m going to have a paid one-week vacation.’ — Think about that. That’s what carrying a union card is,” Brown said.
Brown also talked about his campaign with Republican challenger Bernie Moreno.
“There has been more money spent against me in this race than in any Senate race in the history of the United States.”
Brown said he recently learned that four billionaires had made a $40 million donation to Moreno’s campaign.
“And I thought, you know, Bernie Moreno’s got the billionaires — I have all of you, and I’ll make that trade anytime,” he said.
Brown reminded the crowd of 200 people that he also supported the bill that provided money for veterans of the Middle East Wars who were sickened by burn pits.
“I remember some very conservative members of Congress said we just can’t afford it. ‘It’s too expensive.’ They never say it’s too expensive to send them overseas and send them to war. It’s only too expensive when they come home,” said Brown.
Brown wore a pin called a Canary in a Birdcage, the symbol of mine workers to support safety.
“And when you come to the Senate, they give you this the day you’re sworn in. You put your hand up, you get sworn in, they give you this really fancy piece of jewelry to put on your lapel — I put it on and kind of strutted around, I’m a Senator — and then I took it off and put this pin back on because frankly, this really symbolizes who I am and what I fight for,” Brown said.
Brown has run three times for the US Senate and each time he’s carried Mahoning and Trumbull Counties with a solid majority of votes.
Brown’s challenger Bernie Moreno will be in the Valley Wednesday.
Moreno first visited Strongsville Tuesday along with Donald Trump Junior for a Get Out the Vote rally where he discussed immigration.
“Last year, we spent $110,000 per illegal immigrant in this country. Think about that for a second. That’s twice the average income for a family in Ohio,” Moreno said.
Wednesday, Moreno is expected to make two stops. First, at the Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton at 11:30 a.m. Then he’s expected to appear at the Mahoning County Republican Party’s fall banquet at The Embassy in Boardman. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event starts at 6. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott is also expected to appear.