Sherrod Brown says he’s skipping 2024 Democratic National Convention. Here’s what that says about his campaign.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is keeping his distance from the national party – literally and figuratively – as he runs for reelection.

Even though he’s a party superdelegate as an elected official, Brown isn’t planning to attend the Democratic National Convention in Chicago later this month, he told CNN in an interview that published on Sunday.

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“I often skip conventions,” Brown said, according to CNN and an audio clip provided by Brown’s reelection campaign. “I’ll go to conventions maybe a day sometimes. I don’t plan to go.”

“Sherrod is going to be traveling across the state, meeting with workers, and doing his job serving the people of Ohio,” said Eliza Green, a campaign spokesperson.

If Brown ends up not appearing at the DNC, it will be a first since he entered Congress in 1994, despite what Brown said about skipping conventions.

As a U.S. senator, Brown attended the 2008 Democratic convention and spoke at the 2016 DNC, according to news coverage at the time. When asked, Brown’s campaign did not clarify whether Brown attended the 2012 DNC, but Brown tweeted a picture of himself from the convention floor. There was no convention in 2020, but Brown made a video appearance at that year’s all-virtual event, recording a video segment.

State news coverage surrounding describing the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Democratic conventions also described Brown being there. A memorable example is the 1996 DNC in Chicago, when Brown, an avid baseball fan, got to run the bases at Wrigley Field, take a few swings in the ballpark’s batting cage and meet Ernie Banks, a Hall of Fame former Chicago Cubs shortstop, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Brown’s decision to skip this year’s DNC strongly suggests he doesn’t view the Democratic Party brand as an asset in Ohio, which former president Donald Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2016 and 2022. During this year’s campaign, Brown generally has dodged commenting on party issues by saying he’s not a political pundit, but rather is focused on getting reelected and representing Ohio voters.

Brown also told CNN that he doesn’t plan to campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I’ve got my own schedule,” Brown said when asked if he would campaign with Harris. “She’s got her own schedule. I will focus on my race.”

Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer