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Sherrod Brown
| Sherrod Brown | ||
 | ||
| U.S. Senate, Ohio | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2007-Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| January 3, 2019 | ||
| Years in position | 6 | |
| Party | Democratic | |
| Predecessor | Mike DeWine (R) | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $174,000/year | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 6, 2012 | |
| First elected | November 7, 2006 | |
| Next election | November 2018 | |
| Campaign $ | $37,108,744 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Prior offices | ||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| 1993-2006 | ||
| Ohio Secretary of State | ||
| 1982-1990 | ||
| Ohio House of Representatives | ||
| 1975-1982 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | Russian Studies, Yale University, 1974 | |
| Master's | Education, Ohio State University, 1981 | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | November 9, 1952 | |
| Place of birth | Mansfield, OH | |
| Net worth | $507,003 | |
| Religion | Lutheran | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
| Campaign website | ||
Contents |
Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Brown is a "far-left Democrat".[1]
Brown won re-election in 2012. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary on March 6, 2012, and defeated Josh Mandel (R), John Fockler Jr. (L), and Joseph DeMare (G) in the November 6 general election.
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Brown's academic, professional and political career:[2]
- 1974: Graduated from Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
- 1981: Graduated from Ohio State University, Ohio
- 1979-1981: Worked as a member of the faculty, Ohio State University, Mansfield, Ohio
- 1975-1982: Served as member of the Ohio State house of representatives
- 1983-1991: Served as Ohio secretary of state
- 1993-2007: Served as Democrat to U.S. Congress from Ohio
- 2007-Present: U.S Senator from Ohio
Committee assignments
U.S. Senate
2013-2014
Brown serves on the following committees[3]:
- Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Food and Agricultural Research
- Subcommittee on Jobs, Rural Economic Growth and Energy Innovation
- Subcommittee on Commodities, Markets, Trade and Risk Management
- Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance
- Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Members
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development
- Ethics
- Veterans' Affairs
- Committee on Finance
- The Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy Chair
- The Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth
- The Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
2011-2012
- Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
- Subcommittee on Nutrition and Food Assistance, Sustainable and Organic Agriculture, and General Legislation
- Subcommittee on Energy, Science and Technology
- Subcommittee on Hunger, Nutrition, and Family Farms
- Appropriations
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
- Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- Subcommittee on Economic Policy
- Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment
- Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development
- Ethics
- Veterans' Affairs
Issues
Campaign themes
2012
Brown's campaign website listed the following issues:[5]
- Jobs
- Excerpt: "Sherrod believes Ohio and our nation’s economic strength and national security are drawn from a strong manufacturing base."
- Energy
- Excerpt: "Sherrod has led the fight for our nation’s energy policy to focus on decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and creating manufacturing jobs in Ohio. Sherrod has long recognized that a smart energy policy is also smart jobs policy and that Ohio is leading the nation."
- Fiscal Responsibility
- Excerpt: "Sherrod supports a five-year freeze on spending subject to the annual appropriations process, which will save $400 billion. He also supports health care reform, which will save $143 billion in the first decade, and another $ 1 trillion in the next according to the Congressional Budget Office."
- Standing Up for Seniors
- Excerpt: "Throughout his career, Sherrod has fought to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatization and other short-sighted attempts to undermine the guaranteed benefits retirees earned and deserve."
- A Family Doctor for Every Family
- Excerpt: "Since first taking office, promoting quality health care for every American has been one of Sherrod’s top priorities."
- Agriculture and Ohio’s Rural Economy
- Excerpt: "As Ohio’s first Senator to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in more than forty years, Sherrod is fighting to support the state’s farmers and its number one industry–agriculture."
Fiscal Cliff
Brown voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.[6]
Elections
2012
Brown won re-election.[7] Brown ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Josh Mandel (R), John Fockler Jr. (L), and Joseph DeMare (G) in the November 6 general election.[8]
| U.S. Senate, Ohio, General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sherrod Brown Incumbent |
50.7% | 2,762,690 | |
| Republican | Josh Mandel | 44.7% | 2,435,712 | |
| Independent | Scott Rupert | 4.6% | 250,616 | |
| Total Votes | 5,449,018 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Outside spending
Probably no other race this cycle has received as much outside attention or spending as Brown's bid for re-election against Republican challenger Josh Mandel. Early on, conservatives identified Brown's seat as a potential flip - he's a staunch progressive in a swing state - in their quest to turn the Senate back over into Republican control. As a result, right-leaning groups, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have already spent more than $11.5 million on anti-Brown ad campaigns. The Chamber promises to still spend more before Election Day. The conservative group Crossroads GPS has also already reserved $6.7 million worth of ad space for the last five weeks of the campaign.[9]
2006
On November 7, 2006, Brown won election to the United States Senate. He defeated Mike DeWine, and Richard Duncan in the general election.[10]
|
|
| U.S. Senate, Ohio General Election, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democrat | Sherrod Brown |
56.2% | 2,257,369 | |
| Republican | Mike DeWine | 43.8% | 1,761,037 | |
| Write–in | Richard Duncan | 0% | 830 | |
| Total Votes | 4,019,236 | |||
Ads
On July 24, 2012, Brown released a 30-second ad titled "Both From Ohio."
Campaign donors
Comprehensive donor information for Brown is available dating back to 2000. Based on available campaign finance records, Brown raised a total of $37,108,744 during that time period. This information was last updated on March 25, 2013.[11]
| Sherrod Brown's Campaign Contribution History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| 2012 | U.S. Senate |  |
$24,840,222 | |
| 2006 | U.S. Senate | |
$8,937,004 | |
| 2004 | U.S. House of Representatives (Ohio District 13) | |
$1,047,900 | |
| 2002 | U.S. House of Representatives (Ohio District 13) | |
$1,157,747 | |
| 2000 | U.S. House of Representatives (Ohio District 13) | |
$1,125,871 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $37,108,744 | |||
Breakdown by Year
2012
Brown won election to the U.S. Senate in 2012. During that election cycle, Brown's campaign committee raised a total of $24,840,422 and spent $24,576,366.[12]
| U.S. Senate, Ohio, 2012 - Sherrod Brown Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $24,840,422 |
| Total Spent | $24,576,366 |
| Total Raised by Election Runner-up | $18,912,557 |
| Total Spent by Election Runner-up | $18,868,809 |
| Top contributors to Sherrod Brown's campaign committee | |
| Ohio State University | $94,270 |
| JStreetPAC | $80,830 |
| Cleveland Clinic | $76,137 |
| Forest City Enterprises | $59,884 |
| Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz | $59,000 |
| Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $1,781,895 |
| Retired | $1,115,836 |
| Health Professionals | $633,752 |
| Real Estate | $517,168 |
| Education | $491,880 |
2006
Brown won election to the U.S. Senate in 2010. During that re-election cycle, Brown's campaign committee raised a total of $8,045,279 and spent $4,141,162.[13]
| U.S. Senate, Ohio General Election, 2006 - Sherrod Brown Campaign Contributions | |
|---|---|
| Total Raised | $8937004 |
| Total Spent | $10752665 |
| Total Raised by General Election Opponent | $14922228 |
| Total Spent by General Election Opponent | $15542673 |
| Top contributors to Sherrod Brown's campaign committee | |
| Council for a Livable World | $48569 |
| Goldman Sachs | $46800 |
| Human Rights Campaign | $37172 |
| Forest City Enterprises | $30650 |
| Squire, Sanders & Dempsey | $28750 |
| Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee | |
| Lawyers/Law Firms | $1071716 |
| Health Professionals | $473807 |
| Retired | $467511 |
| Securities & Investment | $255805 |
| Leadership PACs | $252105 |
Polls
2012 Election
October 2012 - present
| Sherrod Brown vs. Josh Mandel | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response | Rasmussen Reports (October 7, 2012) | Survey USA (October 12-15, 2012) | Average | |||||||||||
| Sherrod Brown | 46% | 43% | 44.5% | |||||||||||
| Josh Mandel | 46% | 38% | 42% | |||||||||||
| Undecided | 6% | 13% | 9.5% | |||||||||||
| Other | 2% | 5% | 3.5% | |||||||||||
| Number polled | 500 | 613 | 556.5 | |||||||||||
| Margin of error | +/-4.5 | +/-4% | 4.25% | |||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org | ||||||||||||||
November 2011 - September 2012
| Sherrod Brown vs. Josh Mandel | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response | Public Policy Polling (November 4-6, 2011) | Quinnipiac University (October 17-23, 2011) | Rasmussen Reports (July 18, 2012) | Quinnipiac University (July 24-30, 2012) | Rasmussen Reports (August 13, 2012) | Quinnipiac University (August 15-21, 2012) | University of Cincinnati (August 16-21, 2012) | Rasmussen Reports (September 15, 2012) | Quinnipiac University (September 26, 2012) | Average | ||||
| Sherrod Brown | 49% | 49% | 46% | 51% | 44% | 48% | 48% | 49% | 50% | 48.22% | ||||
| Josh Mandel | 34% | 34% | 42% | 39% | 44% | 41% | 47% | 41% | 40% | 40.222% | ||||
| Undecided | 17% | 14% | 8% | 0% | 9% | 10% | 1% | 7% | 9% | 8.333% | ||||
| Other | 0% | 1% | 4% | 0% | 3% | 1% | 5% | 3% | 0% | 1.89% | ||||
| Number polled | 1,022 | 1,668 | 500 | 1,193 | 500 | 1,253 | 847 | 500 | 1,162 | 960.56 | ||||
| Margin of error | +/-3.1 | +/-2.4% | +/-4.5% | +/-3% | +/-4.5% | +/-2.8% | +/-3.4% | +/-4.5% | +/-2.9% | 3.46% | ||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org | ||||||||||||||
A Rasmussen Reports poll, conducted August 13, 2012, showed Brown running even with Republican challenger Josh Mandel.[14]
A Quinnipiac University poll, conducted July 24-30, 2012, showed Brown leading Republican challenger Josh Mandel by double digits.[15]
A Rasmussen Reports poll, conducted July 18, 2012, showed Brown with a slight lead over Republican challenger Josh Mandel (R).[16]
Analysis
Lifetime voting record
According to the website GovTrack, Brown missed 25 of 1,935 roll call votes from Jan 2007 to Apr 2013, which is 1.3% of votes during that period. This is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving.[17]
Congressional staff salaries
The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Brown paid his congressional staff a total of $,3027,608 in 2011. He ranked 10th on the list of the highest paid Democratic Senatorial Staff Salaries and he ranked 12th overall of the highest paid Senatorial Staff Salaries in 2011. Overall, Ohio ranked 8th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[18]
Net worth
2011
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Brown's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $168,007 to $845,999. That averages to $507,003, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2011 of $20,795,450. His average net worth decreased by 30.55% from 2010.[19]
2010
Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org - The Center for Responsive Politics, Brown's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $435,010 and $1,025,000. That averages to $730,005, which was lower than the average net worth of Democratic Senators in 2010 of $19,383,524.[20]
National Journal vote ratings
- See also: National Journal vote ratings
2012
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Brown tied with two other U.S. Senators, ranking 7th in the liberal rankings among members of the U.S. Senate.[21]
2011
Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of congress voted in the previous year. Brown was tied with four other members of the U.S. Senate ranking 5th in the liberal rankings among U.S. Senators.[22]
Percentage voting with party
The website Open Congress tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of the chamber caucus. According to the website, Brown votes with the Democratic Party 93.2% of the time. This ranked 29th among the 51 Senate Democrats in 2011.[23]
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Sherrod + Brown + Ohio + Senate
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Sherrod Brown News Feed
- Sen. Sherrod Brown proposes bills to fight breast cancer - NewsNet5.com
- Sherrod Brown: Obama Is 'Wrong' On Banks Too Big To Fail - Huffington Post
- Brown serves up local-lunch bill - Toledo Blade
- What is rural? Most Ohio farm counties still don't qualify, despite update - Plain Dealer
- IRS Scandal Brings Senate Democrats' Focus To 501(c)(4) Abuse - Huffington Post
- IRS officials still don't have full explanation of targeting - Los Angeles Times
- Senator: $1.5M needed for Blanchard River flood control - northwestohio.com
- In Brown-Vitter Bill, a Banking Overhaul With Possible Teeth - New York Times
- Private Experts Not Consulted in Financial Cases, Justice Department Says - Main Justice
- Senators get away with shirking - Youngstown Vindicator
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
Personal
Brown and his wife, Connie Schultz, have two children and 2 step-children.
External links
- Social media:
- Biographies:
- Political profiles:
- Fact-checking:
- Financial:
- Interest group ratings:
- Issue positions:
- Legislation:
- Public statements:
- Voting record:
- Works by or about:
- Media appearances:
- Media coverage:
- Column archive at Huffington Post
- Collected news and commentary at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
References
- ↑ Gov Track "Sherrod Brown," Accessed March 3, 2012
- ↑ Biographical Director of the United States Congress "Sherrod Brown," Accessed October 24, 2011
- ↑ Congressional Quarterly "Senate Committees List" Accessed January 18, 2013
- ↑ Sherrod Brown Vote Smart profile
- ↑ Campaign website, Issues
- ↑ U.S. Senate "Roll Call Vote on the Fiscal Cliff" Accessed January 4, 2013.
- ↑ Politico "2012 Election Map, Ohio"
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State "Unofficial election results," Accessed March 6, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post "Sen. Sherrod Brown targeted by U.S. Chamber, outside conservative groups" Accessed August 14, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006"
- ↑ Open Secrets "Career Fundraising for Sherrod Brown" Accessed March 2013
- ↑ Open Secrets "Sherrod Brown 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 4, 2013
- ↑ Open Secrets "Sherrod Brown 2006 Election Cycle," Accessed October 29, 2011
- ↑ Rasmussen Reports Election 2012: Ohio Senate Accessed August 15, 2012
- ↑ Cleveland Plain Dealer Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown leads challenger Josh Mandel by 12 points in new poll Accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Rasmussen Reports Election 2012: Ohio Senate Accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ GovTrack, "Sherrod Brown" Accessed April 2013
- ↑ LegiStorm "Sherrod Brown"
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org "Dean Heller (R-Nev), 2011," accessed February 22, 2013
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Brown, (D-Ohio), 2010"
- ↑ National Journal, "2012 Congressional Vote Ratings," March 7, 2013
- ↑ National Journal, "Searchable Vote Ratings Tables: House," February 23, 2012
- ↑ Open Congress "Voting With Party," Accessed October 29, 2011
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