A Democratic candidate from a key swing state, aiming to make a Senate comeback, has drawn attention with comments about ‘black and brown’ individuals working as cleaners at the Capitol, according to a video recording.
Sherrod Brown, a former Ohio Senator, is attempting to return to Washington’s corridors of power after serving there for more than three decades. As his campaign gains momentum, political tensions are heating up.
At 73, Brown is seeking to unseat Jon Husted, a first-term Republican who took over JD Vance’s Senate position after Vance became vice president.
Currently, Husted, who is 58, holds a slim lead in the polls. However, the RealClearPolitics average suggests the race is too close to call, giving Democrats hope of reclaiming the Senate seat.
In footage uncovered by the Daily Mail, Brown remarks that the Capitol is predominantly ‘pretty white’ during the day, but transforms to ‘more black and brown’ at night when the cleaning staff arrives.
Brown’s comments appear to highlight the significant racial disparity between higher-level and blue-collar jobs in Washington, D.C.
Brown made the remark during a virtual forum on September 16, 2020, with the Commonwealth Club of California, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking in the same video about diversity on Capitol Hill, Brown remarked that the political parties ‘are more homogenous than they used to be,’ before adding that ‘the Republicans are still a bunch of white men.’
‘There’s one guy of color, there is a couple Latinos I should say, there’s one African American, there’s few women, Democrats are about a third women,’ Brown said during his remarks.
Brown married Connie Schultz, a writer, in 2004
Brown’s remarks are an apparent reference to the stark racial divide between the white and blue collar jobs in Washington
‘Still, you see, too often in the Capitol, you see that it looks pretty white during the day, and at night when the cleaning people come in, it’s more black and brown,’ Brown continued.
Brown then noted there are ‘still not enough staff of color,’ before turning to banking regulators – a subject he knows well, having held a senior role on the Senate Banking committee before his 2024 defeat.
‘The regulators, even the Democratic regulators, but the Trump regulators are basically rich white guys that are doing public service, in a curious, in my mind curious sort of way,’ he told moderator Scott Shafer, a senior editor at KQED, the San Francisco Bay Area public radio outlet.
The Brown campaign did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on his remarks.
His unearthed remarks could be a liability for the politician heading into the close race.
A Republican operative says it demonstrates that Brown is out of touch with his voters – which could hurt him at the ballot box.
Per the US Census Bureau, 80 percent of Ohioans identify as white and just 14 percent are black.
According to Cody Pettit, the 33-year-old chairman of the Ohio Young Republican Party, the Senate hopeful has been spending too much time in the Capital Beltway.
‘Sherrod Brown has been in DC for over 30 years. These comments reflect the mindset of someone focused on the concerns of DC rather than the mindset of someone focused on the concerns of everyday Ohioans,’ he told the Daily Mail.
It’s an issue that is poised to hurt Brown as he makes his case to Ohio’s voters directly about why they should vote for him over Husted.
And in a neck-and-neck race, every single vote will matter.
In 2022, Brown honored US Capitol custodial workers on the first anniversary of January 6, highlighting their role in cleaning up after the insurrection.
‘Domestic terrorists destroyed,’ he said. ‘Black and brown custodians cleaned up.’
In 2024, Brown was unable to hold on to his seat as Trump surged to his third straight victory in the Buckeye State. He was defeated by Bernie Moreno.
First elected to Congress in 1992, Brown served in Washington for 32 years — fourteen in the House of Representatives and 18 in the Senate.
Sherrod Brown, Former United States Senator poses for a picture with workers during the National Urban League’s Whitney M. Young Jr. Awards Gala on July 19, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio
Brown poses for a photo with volunteers at a campaign office on November 4, 2024
Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown speaks during a campaign event ahead of primary elections at the Paladin Brewery in Austintown, Ohio, Thursday, April, 30, 2026
Prediction market Kalshi shows users currently betting on Brown ousting Husted in November
Prediction market Polymarket also shows the Democrat beating the Republican in the race
Brown is aiming to flip the seat back into Democratic hands in a race that could prove vital to the effort to retake the US Senate from GOP control.
The Cook Political Report currently ranks Ohio’s Senate seat in its ‘Toss-Up’ category, along with the Maine seat held by Senator Susan Collins, making Brown a key challenger Democrats will invest in.
Per Federal Elections Commission Records, Brown’s campaign had brought in nearly $26 million dollars in the 2026 election cycle, and has over $17 million cash on hand.
Prediction market Kalshi gives Brown a 55 percent chance to win, and Husted a 45 percent chance to keep his seat. Polymarket, meanwhile, gives a Democrat a 57 percent chance, while a Republican has a 43 percent chance.
Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the upper chamber on Capitol Hill.
