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A state senator becomes the first Republican to launch a challenge to US Sen. Sherrod Brown

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — A state senator from northeast Ohio is the first Republican to announce he’s running against Democratic US Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.

Sen. Matt Dolan speaking on the Senate floor. He has a navy suit with a red tie. He is holding a stick mic kind of like a clarinet.
Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), speaking on the Senate floor. [Ohio Senate]
It’s the second US Senate campaign in two years for Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), who came in third in the seven-way Republican Senate primary last year.

Dolan, who’s been the Senate Finance Committee chair and also is a part owner of the Cleveland Guardians, says he’ll focus on inflation, immigration, and what he calls Brown’s “blind loyalty” to President Biden and the Democratic Party.

In last year’s Senate race, he ran as a conservative alternative to former President Trump. Dolan didn’t say whether that’s his strategy this time.

“Well, look, everyone keeps telling my strategy. I run my own campaign. I am my own person. I have my own experience. And I don’t let anybody else dictate what direction I’m going in,” Dolan said.

The Ohio Democratic Party said in a statement that voters have rejected Dolan’s attempt to buy a US Senate seat once, and that he’s been a shill for corporate donors while Brown has focused on working families.

Dolan said he recognizes he likely will have to run in a primary, and that this will be an expensive race.

“I will have the resources necessary to to win the race. I look forward to raising money throughout the state of Ohio, big donors, large donors. And my wife and I will invest in myself as well,” Dolan said. “So we will have the resources necessary to win.”

Republicans swept the statewide offices last year, and former president Trump won Ohio in 2016 and 2020. And several officeholders elected in November are term limited, including Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who has long been reported to be interested in running.