WASHINGTON (AP) — Could there be an all-Ohio presidential election in 2020?
You would get very long odds in Vegas against that happening. It is possible, though, with two of the state’s most popular politicians considering runs.
Republican Gov. John Kasich ran in 2016 and appears ready to try again and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown says he is strongly considering a run after getting encouragement to do so after his re-election victory this month.
Kasich has a tall order against a sitting president in his own party. Brown doesn’t have much fame outside of Ohio.
But it has happened before. The next presidential election will be 100 years after Republican Warren Harding defeated Democrat James Cox.
Brown has been getting some national media love as a possible contender, as he sells his message that a Democratic presidential candidate hoping to win Ohio should focus on workers and their needs.
Brown repeated in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” he hasn’t yet decided whether he will run, but believes more attention must be paid to people who work hard and never get ahead.
The 66-year-old senator led all Ohio vote-getters Nov. 6 to win re-election to a third Senate term while Republicans swept other key statewide offices. Brown said he won because he talked about the “dignity of work” and respecting work.
Brown said he hopes that message will become a part of the narrative among all Democrats who want to be president.