WASHINGTON, DC — A united and reinvigorated Democratic Party is preparing to rally behind its new White House nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, in Chicago next week. But at least one Ohio Democrat is maintaining his distance from the party — both figuratively and literally — by not attending the event.
What you need to know
- Senator Sherrod Brown will not attend the Democratic Party convention in Chicago next week because he faces a tough re-election campaign.
- MP Emilia Sykes, who is in a tough race, will also attend the party conference.
- Attendance numbers reflect how much the Democratic Party brand can help or hurt a candidate
According to a campaign spokesman, Senator Sherrod Brown will not attend the convention but will instead spend time in Ohio meeting and hearing from voters.
“I skip conventions a lot. Sometimes I might go to conventions for a day. I don’t plan to do that,” Brown said in an audio interview provided by the campaign.
In fact, Brown has not missed a Democratic convention since his election to Congress in 1994.
The campaign said the decision was made before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and moved Harris to the top of the ballot, and he has been supporting Harris for president ever since.
Moreover, the re-election comes in the midst of Brown’s most difficult re-election of his career, as he fights for victory in a state where the number of registered Republicans almost doubles the number of registered Democrats.
“A lot of it is just a risk-reward calculation,” said Benjamin LaPoe, a professor of political communication at Ohio University. “In general, once Ohio voters start thinking about national politics, they tend to turn away from the Democrats and toward the Republican Party. So they try to focus their campaigns on the local population of Ohio.”
During his election campaign, Brown also distanced himself from the Democratic Party and instead focused on the problems of the middle class.
“The political calculation is that Sherrod Brown has always been able to sell himself as an independent, regardless of who is in the White House, and that underscores his independence,” said Dave Cohen, a political science professor at the University of Akron. “It doesn’t matter who the person is at the top of the Democratic Party ballot.”
The office of Representative Marcy Kaptur (Democrat, Ohio), who is facing headwinds in a district Trump won in 2020, said she has not yet decided whether she will attend the convention.
But Representative Emilia Sykes, Democrat from Ohio, also faced a tough election campaign in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, plans to attend.
This strategy could encourage her Democratic base to turn out more, political analysts say, in a state where Republicans are increasingly in power and vulnerable Democratic lawmakers need as many votes from moderates and swing voters as possible.
“I think it’s an easy decision for them to support the candidate,” Cohen said. “If Joe Biden were the candidate, with his low approval ratings and pretty bleak presidential prospects, I think the decision might have been a lot more difficult.”
Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio, who publicly called on Biden to drop out of the race, will also attend the convention.
The other two Democrats from Ohio – Representatives Joyce Beatty and Shontel Brown – also plan to participate. Both are considered clear favorites for re-election.
