WASHINGTON _ Sen. Sherrod Brown won't be joining several of his Democratic Senate colleagues who are seeking the White House in 2020.
The Ohio Democrat announced Thursday that he would not be running for president.
The timing of his announcement was strange, because the statement came out at roughly the same time he was giving an impassioned speech on the Senate floor regarding the nomination of Eric Earl Murphy to be a judge on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
An exploratory committee had been set up for Brown, whose name had been discussed as a possible candidate for the higher office.
Earlier this year, Brown took his message on the road to states with early presidential primaries as part of his "dignity of work" listening tour, making stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.
In a statement, Brown said he and his wife, Connie Schultz, traveled the country in the last few months to make "dignity of work" a centerpiece of the 2020 campaign and said he was confident it will remain a focus.
"We've seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it _ because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern," Brown said.
The Buckeye State senator said he will continue "calling out Donald Trump and his phony populism," and will fight for workers across the U.S.
"I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate," Brown said. "Believe me, we will fight."
