Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown ’74 defeated incumbent Republican Senator Mike DeWine in an upset in the Ohio senate race.

Brown ran on a platform of increasing the minimum wage, protecting state jobs, tightening borders and passing a balanced budget amendment. He was declared the victor soon after the polls closed. With 76 percent of precincts reporting, he led the two-term incumbent 55 percent to 45 percent.

A native of Mansfield, Ohio, Brown was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992 after serving in the Ohio State Senate and as Secretary of State for Ohio. During his term as a congressman, he voted against the invasion of Iraq and was active in health care issues. He has also focused on the effect of free trade on Ohio’s economy and wrote the book “Myths of Free Trade.”

Following his graduation from Yale, Brown earned master’s degrees in education and public administration at Ohio State University, and worked as a teacher in public schools and universities in Ohio and Poland.