Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, launched his Students for Sherrod campaign at Ohio University on Wednesday.
Brown took the podium to speak to a crowd of students, Athens residents, faculty members, local politicians and down-ballot candidates about his campaign and the importance of voting this November.
Between 70 and 80 people filled Room 240 in Baker Center at 2:30 p.m. to attend the event. OU was Brown’s first campus stop in Ohio.
“I am pretty confident that on this campus, they don’t love (President) Donald Trump, and if students vote in large numbers, they are going to vote against Trump policies — that would mean voting for me, Rick Neal and Taylor Sappington,” Brown said.
Some notable people who attended the event include OU President Duane Nellis, Athens Mayor Steve Patterson, Athens City Council President Chris Knisely, Democratic candidate for congress Rick Neal, Democratic candidate for the Ohio House Taylor Sappington, and multiple members of both the Ohio and OU College Democrats (OUCD).
Brown said if more young people vote, “we’ll win all these elections, we will win the country. …They’ll all vote in 2020, and that will be the end of Donald Trump.”
Prior to speaking, Brown was introduced by Clancy Thomas, a member of OUCD; Bailey Williams, president of OUCD; and Anthony Eliopoulos, the president of Ohio College Democrats.
“I think everyone in the room was energetic, but I just hope the students that were there get involved by voting, organizing, knocking doors, making phone calls,” Williams said.
Cameron Shank, a freshman studying political science, had never attended a political event prior to this one. Not many Democrats come around outside of Cincinnati, where he lives, he said.
“It was really inspiring too just to see him,” Shank said. “He cares for people. You don’t see a lot of politicians who come and do small events just for people.”
Earlier in the summer, Brown’s opponent Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, visited Athens to campaign.
"I was glad for the opportunity to sit down with Ohio University President Dr. Nellis earlier this summer,” Renacci said in an email. In addition to our meeting, I was fortunate to witness the life changing work of The Diabetes Institute and the state-of-the-art Innovation Center which provides invaluable resources to the Athens community.”
Cole Neuhart, the political director for the OU College Republicans, or OUCRs, said many of the OUCRs were not there because school was out, people had internships and it is difficult to get people to come to Athens over the summer.
While Brown rarely mentioned his opponent during the event, he said Democratic politicians need to be reaching out to Republican voters as well as energizing the base of their own party.
Williams said he believes both recent polls and previous election results show that Brown is able to reach out to and connect with voters, even if they aren’t typically strong Democrats.
“He takes time with everyone he talks to, so I can tell that he really cares about college students and taking care of the world after his generation passes,” Ivy Hammond, a junior studying political science pre-law, said.
