Getty Sherrod Brown
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is planning to visit the early primary states in the coming weeks, according to the Washington Post. Brown told the Washington Post that he is considering a run at the White House in 2020 but that he hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll toss his hat in the ring. But Brown said that even if he doesn’t run, he hopes to push the Democratic party to focus more on helping Americans climb out of poverty.
Politico has also reported that Brown is planning a trip to Iowa in the coming weeks, and that details should be announced soon. Politico says that Sarah Benzing, Brown’s longtime aide, is working “behind the scenes” to jumpstart a campaign for Brown. Benzing is an Iowa native herself and would be expected to draw on her connections in the state.
“Groundwork for Sherrod is just working through it with his family, first and foremost, and deciding whether this is a good fit and they want to go through it,” Benzing told POLITICO in an interview. “For us, because we’re less than a year out from the Iowa caucuses and when Iowa starts their early vote, I see my responsibility as helping to get an infrastructure ready should he decide that he wants to run. It’s calling people, checking in, making sure the fundraising apparatus is there — those sort of nuts and bolts of things.”
Brown has said he wants to expand both the federal Earned Income Tax credit and the child tax credit so that it benefits both middle and working-class Americans. He told the Post, “Whoever the Democratic nominee is, and through the course of the primaries and caucuses, I think you’ll see an emphasis on lifting people out of poverty.” He added that, “whether I run or not,” Brown added, his goal is “to move the narrative to reward work. This rewards work as well as anything we can do.”