Bill Clinton stops in Cleveland to rally Democratic faithful to get out the vote, back Sherrod Brown

CLEVELAND – Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown hasn’t leaned much on heavy hitters to boost his campaign for reelection, but on Monday he brought one to Cleveland – former President Bill Clinton – to remind party faithful to get out the vote.

The message to several hundred party activists, elected Democrats and organized labor gathered at Cleveland States’ Wolstein Center was clear: Don’t let up now.

Speaker after speaker, including Brown and Clinton, urged supporters to call or text five people to encourage them to vote.

“You’ve got one more day,” Clinton said. “There’s a lot of people who haven’t voted yet. There’s a lot of people who don’t know who they’re going to vote for yet. You’ve got a lot of people who haven’t decided if they’re going to vote.”

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Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, was making his closing argument in a race that has been the most closely watched — and expensive — U.S. Senate election in the country this year. His race against Republican businessman Bernie Moreno could decide which party controls the Senate.

Moreno brought in his own closers over the weekend, campaigning with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson, and Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. Last week, Donald Trump Jr. and a revolving door of Republican senators joined Moreno on the campaign trail.

An appearance by a former president, however, has been a rarity in Ohio this campaign cycle. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, endorsed Moreno and has appeared in his campaign ads but hasn’t been to Ohio to provide ground-level support since March, when Moreno was still locked in a primary fight.

Bringing Clinton to Cleveland on the eve of the election is no accident. Cleveland would be a key piece for a Brown election win. Cuyahoga County is reliably Democratic and the second largest county in the state.

Clinton carried Ohio in both the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections. At the time, Ohio was a battleground state that demanded attention from the presidential candidates, but both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, have largely been absent from the Buckeye State this cycle. Trump has won Ohio by 8 percentage points in both his presidential runs and is expected to win again this year.

Clinton’s appeal for Brown and other Democrats on the Ohio ballot was made to party faithful that will be helping mobilize voters to turn out on Tuesday. One thing about the “hard right” that Clinton said he admired is that they never give up.

“You should never give up,” Clinton said.

Brown is the only Ohio Democrat still holding a non-judicial statewide office in Ohio. He has been preaching a message of the dignity of work and connecting with key groups of voters, such as blue-collar Ohioans.

That was a message he reiterated Monday.

“For me, everything comes down to the dignity of work. If you work hard, you should get ahead,” he told the crowd. “For me, it’s all about whose side you’re on” — working class people or big business and Wall Street.

Turnout could be key for Brown on Tuesday.

His last election was in 2018, when he defeated Republican Jim Renacci while a slate of Republicans swept other state offices.

But this election, one with a presidential race on the ballot, is expected to have greater turnout. The challenge for Brown is to collect enough votes to top Moreno, even as Trump is expected to carry the state. Brown has collected some Republican endorsements to help bolster his case, including that of former Gov. Bob Taft, so far, the only Republican to beat Brown in a race.

And toward that goal, strong turnout in Cleveland, Brown’s home, and Cuyahoga County can offset a lot of Republican votes from other parts of the state.

Joining Brown and Clinton were a host of elected leaders and candidates – members of Cleveland City Council, Democratic state legislators, Supreme Court candidates, including two sitting justices, and U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty of Columbus and Shontel Brown of Warrensville Heights.

They also made the same kind of plea: Call five people. Text five people. Help get people to vote.

Shontel Brown, who jokingly talked about support for her “cousin Sherrod,” said fate of the Senate hangs in the balance – not just because Sherrod Brown winning could be key to Democrats retaining control, but also because without him, working Ohioans will have no voice in the Senate.

That’s why turning out the vote is important, she said.

Getting that kind of turnout, though, requires a lot of boots on the ground, and that’s something Brown made clear he is grateful for – people to make phone calls to voters and people to visit households.

“With this race, and all the work door to door, I so appreciate the support of the labor movement,” Brown said. That support was evident at Monday’s event, as people repeatedly called out responses and cheers to his message.

Clinton told the crowd he always felt a sense of kinship with Brown because of his efforts to promote dignity for all workers.

“I’m probably the last president who will have lived in a house with no indoor plumbing. We were working people with dignity,” he said. “Sherrod keeps score the old-fashioned way. Are people better off than they were before?”