COLUMBUS, Ohio — Battleground states across the country could be what determines the winner of the 2024 presidential election.
There are seven swing states that play a key role in deciding the winner of the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Ohio is not one of them.
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The Buckeye state has fallen off the presidential battlegrounds: In 2020, Joe Biden became the first president since fellow Democrat John F. Kennedy to win the White House without winning Ohio.
The Harris-Trump matchup in Ohio is a contest further down the ballot that has been getting the bulk of the attention in the Nov. 5 general election.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown's bid for a fourth term is shaping up to be his toughest to date, as his party tries to cling to a narrow majority in the chamber. His Republican opponent is Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman who had Trump’s backing in the GOP's competitive March primary.
In July, Brown called on then-presumptive presidential nominee Biden to drop out of the race a month after his shaky debate performance against Trump. He endorsed Harris to replace Biden on the ticket but skipped the Democratic National Convention in August. Moreno has accused Brown of distancing himself from Harris, which the senator’s campaign has dismissed.
Fellow Ohioan and GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Trump have also kept a spotlight on the state, most notably by spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about Haitian migrants in Springfield.
The race is on track to be the most expensive Senate contest this cycle.