Sherrod Brown talks about his party and his future: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, our evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News political team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s issue, senior national political reporter Henry J. Gomez sits down with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to discuss what went wrong for Democrats in 2024 and what’s next. . Additionally, national political correspondent Steve Kornacki details how more than 40% of the nation’s counties were decided by at least a 50-point margin in November.

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Outgoing Sen. Sherrod Brown talks about bailing out ‘corporate’ Democrats

Written by Henry J. Gomez

CLEVELAND — Fresh off a comfortable 2018 re-election victory, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is appealing to the many working-class voters in the Midwest who have defected from the Democratic Party in favor of Donald Trump. He considered running for president with a populist message. .

Mr. Brown took over the White House campaign. Six years later, he lost his bid for a fourth term in the Senate and is about to lose his job. This is the first time since 1992 that he has not been elected to public office, and the second time since 1974.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump will return to office next month, but an existential crisis is already brewing for Mr. Brown and the Democratic Party. Brown, 72, has been warning about this challenge for years and feels it rings true. And despite the loss, Mr. Brown’s location in a part of the country where Democrats have been stigmatized gives him the opportunity to play a vocal role within the party if he wishes. are.

In a recent interview with NBC News, Brown spoke as if he were someone who would. He spoke of a “post-Senate mission” to reorient the Democratic Party as the “worker’s party” in Central America. He also said he has received calls from people encouraging him to run for Democratic National Committee chairman, but added that he is not interested in the position.

“Being a national president means you have a platform,” Brown said. “I also have to run an organization with 50 state chairs. … I don’t want to spend time on a plane fundraising.”

However, Brown could return to the Senate after his stint in the Senate. He remains open to running again in 2026, when a special election will be held in Ohio to fill the unexpired term of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Brown also noted that his last speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday was his “last” speech, rather than the “farewell” speeches that outgoing senators are more familiar with. Worth it.

Asked if he was already considering returning in 2026, when Ohio will elect a new governor, Brown said, “I haven’t made a decision on that yet.” “I have time.”

So far, Brown has been scathing in his criticism of his own party.

“I’m not going to whine about losing,” he said. “But I lost primarily because the Democratic Party’s national reputation was that it was a lighter version of corporations, a corporate party. We were seen as a bicoastal elite party. And it’s hard to argue with that.

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Where the 2024 election was a close contest

Written by Steve Kornacki

Nationally, the presidential election was close, with Donald Trump winning the popular vote by 1.5 percentage points over Kamala Harris. However, landslides occurred frequently at the district level.

In the 2024 election, Trump or Harris won by 50 points or more in 1,267 counties. That’s just over 40% of all 3,143 counties in the United States. This also compares to the number of landslide counties a generation ago, during the close race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000, when the popular vote difference was 0.5 points. This is a four-fold increase from just 304 counties.

The number of landslide counties increased during the years of the Bush and Barack Obama administrations, and exploded in 2016 during the first of three consecutive elections in which Trump took over as top Republican.

These localized landslide trends reflect demographic fragmentation that has intensified over the past quarter century. For example, vast areas of rural America have been turned into red forts. Trump’s 2024 vote share exceeded 90% in 53 counties, virtually all of which were sparsely populated. His largest vote margin on the map was 92 points in Hays County, Nebraska. The county has fewer than 1,000 residents and a population density of 2 people per square mile.

Geographically, the terrain President Trump claimed in these landslides is wide. He won by at least 50 points in 75 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, 39 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, and 184 of Texas’ 254 counties.

Meanwhile, the number of landslides at the Harris County level was much lower. But cumulatively, she would account for millions of votes in the 42 counties she won by 50 points or more. These counties tend to be concentrated in and around large cities, reflecting Democratic Party strength with black voters and college-educated white voters.

Her biggest landslide was the 75 she scored in Prince George’s County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. and home to the nation’s largest black majority. He also defeated Trump by 64 points in California’s upscale Marin County. The county has the highest median household income in the nation, and two-thirds of the white population has at least a four-year degree.

The increase in landslide counties is the product of two decades of deepening divisions, but there is one notable shift in the other direction. Many counties with large Hispanic populations, where Democrats once routinely won by large margins, have shifted dramatically to the right (or left) during the Trump era. For example, Webb County in Deep South Texas gave Hillary Clinton a 52-point lead eight years ago. This time, Trump won by two points.

That’s all from the political desk. If you have any feedback, love it or hate it, email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com.

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