Sen. Sherrod Brown Targeted by U.S. Chamber, Outside Conservative Groups
In the battle for control of the Senate, no race has received as much financial attention as the reelection bid of Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, with outside conservative groups working together to pour tens of millions of dollars into Ohio’s airwaves to try to unseat him.
In early July, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched ads criticizing the liberal senator for alleged anti-business votes. When that run ended, a nonprofit group affiliated with GOP operative Karl Rove hit Brown with a new slate of ads. Those were immediately followed by another set of Chamber ads denouncing Brown as a “career politician.”
The conservative groups, led by the business-friendly Chamber, have so far spent more than $11.5 million in a relentless anti-Brown campaign — that’s more than twice as much money as Brown’s actual opponent, Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel, has spent on the race. The Chamber has vowed to spend much more and Crossroads GPS, the Rove-affiliated group, already has reserved another $6.7 million in advertising for the final five weeks of the contest.