WASHINGTON _ Sen. Sherrod Brown won re-election Tuesday over Republican Rep. Jim Renacci, giving the Ohio Democrat a third six-year term in the U.S. Senate and his fifth statewide victory since 1982.
CNN called the race about a half hour after the polls closed at 7:30 p.m.
Renacci worked to the end of the race, pointing to an internal poll showing 17 percent of voters remained undecided. On the other hand, Renacci still hadn't spent the $4 million he loaned to his campaign as of Friday, and he would not commit to doing so.
Brown called his victory proof that "progressives can win _ and win decisively _ in the heartland." Brown, criticized as voting like "a Hollywood liberal" by Renacci, has agreed on Trump's moves to toughen trade agreements. But his victory speech made clear that he disapproves of the president's rhetoric and other policies.
"We do not appeal to some by pushing down others," Brown said. "We do not lie. We do not engage in hate speech. And we do not rip babies from their families at the border."
He said populists aren't racists or anti-Semitic and added: "We will never ever give up the hallowed ground of patriotism to the extremists _ at the Statehouse and in the White House."
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