Former President Barack Obama will campaign in Cleveland later this month for Sherrod Brown and other Democrats, highlighting how pivotal the state’s U.S. Senate race is to the November midterm election.

Obama, who won Ohio in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, is scheduled to appear in Cleveland on Saturday, Oct. 24. Brown is a former three-term senator who lost the seat in 2024 to Republican Bernie Moreno. Polls show Brown is locked in a close race with Republican Sen. Jon Husted in the Nov. 3 election, despite Ohio’s GOP leanings and President Donald Trump’s 11-point margin of victory here in 2024. Husted was appointed in 2025 to fill the vacancy created by JD Vance’s election to vice president.

Democratic governor candidate Amy Acton also is appearing at the event. Polls show a similarly tight race between Acton and Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

Obama’s visit follows a flurry of visits from top Republicans. Trump campaigned in Dayton and Youngstown on Oct. 4 and Oct. 12, while Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Cincinnati and Lima last Friday. Trump is also set to campaign this Saturday in the Cincinnati area, although on the Kentucky side of the border.

Brown’s campaign released a video endorsement from Obama on Tuesday in a press release announcing the Cleveland appearance. It referenced how Democrats must win Ohio and at least one other state Trump won in 2024 to flip the U.S. Senate to Democratic control.

“This race is going to be close. It could determine which party controls the Senate and whether Ohioans can count on the people in Washington to be fighting for you,” Obama said in the video. 

Obama last campaigned in Ohio in 2018, when he attended a rally in Cleveland for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rich Cordray, who polls suggested at the time was slightly favored to win. In the end, Republican Mike DeWine defeated Cordray, who was Obama’s pick to run a U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When Trump retook the White House last year, his administration drastically scaled back that agency.

🗳️ Looking for clear, nonpartisan election info? See what to know about Ohio’s November 2026 election and how it could affect your community.

State Government and Politics Reporter
I follow state government and politics from Columbus. I seek to explain why politicians do what they do and how their decisions affect everyday Ohioans. I want to close the gap between what state leaders know and what voters know. I also enjoy trying to help people see things from a different perspective. I graduated in 2008 from Otterbein University in Westerville with a journalism degree, and have covered politics and government in Ohio since then.