U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, appealed to area Democratic supporters during a stop Thursday at Lima’s UA Local 776 hall.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
LIMA — With the race for the U.S. Senate down to its final 19 days, incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, paid a visit to Lima on Thursday to promote his candidacy in an environment with which he is particularly familiar: a union hall.
Brown made his appearance Thursday afternoon at the UA Local 776 building on Bowman Road, touting his work in Washington to promote and preserve union jobs and benefits.
“When I think about my job and why I love this country is because of the people that make it work,” he said. “My job is to stand up for these workers.”
As examples of that dedication, Brown pointed to legislation like the Butch Lewis Act of 2019 that aimed to preserve union pensions and his efforts to include union labor requirements in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2021 that helped provide billions of dollars to help fund the construction of an Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility in Ohio.
Brown pledged that one of his top priorities, should he be reelected, would center on election-related legislation.
“One of the first things we’re going to do next year is the John Lewis Voting Rights Act,” Brown said, speaking of a bill that would, according to the Human Rights Coalition, provide resources to help determine what states and localities show a pattern of voting access discrimination and expand the federal government’s authority to send federal observers to jurisdictions to determine possible hindrances to poll access.
Brown also expressed a desire to help provide an easier pathway to unionization for American workers.
“I will never tell an employer you need to be union,” he said. “That’s their business, and it’s the workers’ business. But I want a level playing field so if workers choose to have a union, the company can’t stop them from doing that.”
Brown also pledged to continue to fight against corporate influence in Washington, including oil companies. When asked about that stance, including his support for the Inflation Reduction Act that promotes more investment in electric vehicles, given the impact of the fossil fuel industry in Lima with the Cenovus refinery, Brown said his opposition is centered on the corporations seeking higher profits, not on the workers on the ground.
“I hear people talk about prices all the time, and they have legitimate complaints, but so much of that’s going to excess profits,” he said. “So much of that’s going to multimillion-dollar salaries to executives, and especially CEOs.”
Speaking in support of Brown on Thursday was Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mike Knisley, who likened Brown’s opponent, Cleveland-area businessman Bernie Moreno, to the car salesman who upcharges customers, while Brown is the mechanic in the shop making sure the car runs.
“(People) want somebody like Sen. Brown that fights for everybody,” he said. “He cares about Democrats. He cares about Republicans. He cares about independents. He cares about people who don’t vote. I even said he cares about atheists who don’t go to church. It’s just how he rolls.”
