The former senator has been dodging questions relating to his stance on ICE. 

Former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) spoke in a recent interview about his stance on Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a time when the Democratic Party has gone to extreme lengths to defund and abolish ICE. 

When asked about the extreme shift of Democrats and whether he supports recent calls to abolish ice, Brown responded, “I don’t. I’m not paying enough attention to know what votes are coming up.”

When asked again during the interview, Brown said, “I’m not close enough to make those decisions at this point. I think for sure we need rules around ICE.”

Brown will face off against Senator John Husted in November. Husted was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to replace Vice President JD Vance.

In 2018, Brown was also on the record in opposition to abolishing ICE while calling for reforms of the agency. 

Campaign spokesperson Lauren Chou said in a recent statement on behalf of Brown that “Sherrod Brown does not support abolishing ICE. Sherrod’s focus is on keeping Ohio’s communities safe by getting violent criminals and human traffickers off the streets and ensuring those are the individuals ICE focuses on.”

Senator John Husted’s campaign responded to Brown’s recent interview comments. 

“Not close enough to make those decisions? No one was closer to the chaos coming out of Washington than Sen. Sherrod Brown,” Husted’s campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said in a recent statement. 

“He spent more than 30 years in Washington failing hardworking Ohio families. Now he’s portraying himself as an outsider in the hopes that voters will forget his liberal agenda. It didn’t work in 2024, and it won’t work now.”

Hunter Lovell, Midwest regional communications director for the Republican National Committee, recently made the point that “Ohio voters already rejected Brown’s failed record once.” He added that Husted is “prepared to retire this empty-suit politician for good this November.”

The race between Brown and Husted has been rated a toss-up approaching November. The winner of the special election to finish out this term will be up for reelection in 2028.