FIRST ON FOX: Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who has long disparaged the existence of corporate PAC money in politics and once vowed not to accept it while mulling a presidential run, this year accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate PACs.
Brown, who has served in the Senate since 2007 and is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats running for re-election this fall, raised nearly $300,000 in the first quarter of 2024 from various corporate PACs that were donated to his campaign or aligned super PACs, according to FEC filings.
Some of the corporate PACs supporting Brown include the New York Life Insurance PAC, PriceWaterhouseCoopers PAC, Visa Inc. Political Action Committee, The Boeing Company Political Action Committee and The Bank Of New York Mellon Corporation-Federal PAC.
Brown has spoken out against the influence of corporate PAC money and the This is reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer that Brown promised not to accept corporate PAC dollars while he was considering a 2019 presidential run.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is seen during Senate votes at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“It takes so much money to run campaigns these days,” Brown says told the Washington Post in 2002. “There's a lot more pressure on Democrats to take more corporate money. It's not good for Democrats, and it's not good for the country.”
On social media in recent months, Brown has touted his record of standing up to big banks and “corporate greed.”
“I will always stand up to greedy companies that reduce the size of their products without cutting costs,” Brown posted on X in April.
“Corporate greed is a threat to small businesses and workers in Ohio,” Brown said posted on X in March. “I will always stand up to corporations and special interests to fight for the people of Ohio.”
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Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio and chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Federal Election Commission labels “Corporation PACs,” also known as corporate PACs, as political action committees controlled by a single corporation that solicits contributions from executives, managers, stakeholders, and their families.
During his time in office, Brown did just that raked in millions of dollars from corporate PACs, the Washington Free Beacon reported in 2019.
In recent years, prominent Democrats have pledged to stop accepting money from corporate PACs, which critics say allows candidates to become dependent on special interest groups.
“Refusing corporate PAC money is a way to show a commitment to tackling the money problem in politics, and its popularity helps keep the issue at the top of the agenda,” said Adam Bozzi, vice president for communications at End Citizens United, told Roll Call in 2022.
“We expect the trend to continue to grow, and it will help us make progress on anti-corruption legislation, such as ending dark money.”
Brown is currently the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and FEC data shows that his re-election campaign has cost money from Visa and Mastercard, both of which have lobbied on the Credit Card Competition Act, which has been submitted to the banking committee.
“Sherrod Brown has spent his career in politics and will do whatever it takes to stay in office,” Reagan McCarthy, spokesman for Brown's Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, told Fox News Digital.
“Brown tells hardworking Ohioans he is against big business when his re-election campaign is funded by corporate PACs. He is the ultimate Washington insider and Ohioans will not be fooled by his election year hypocrisy in November.”
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Bernie Moreno, Republican Senate candidate in Ohio (AP Photo/Joe Maiorana)
“When he wanted to run for president, Sherrod Brown told voters he would reject corporate PAC money,” Philip Letsou, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital. “As he runs for re-election, he receives more special interest money than almost any other U.S. Senator. Fifty years in politics have turned Sherrod Brown into a hypocrite who tells voters one thing and does another.”
Brown has been referred to by some as the “sheriff” of Wall Street, as he has led public crusades against big banks and corporations during his three years at the top of the Senate Banking Committee. Brown has been that too promoting the RECOUP law which supporters call the strongest banking reform bill since Dodd-Frank.
“Sherrod is one of the nation's strongest leaders in taking on big corporations on behalf of Ohio workers – which is one of the reasons why Ohioans continue to elect him to the U.S. Senate and why he will win this race in 2024 ” said Reeves Oyster, spokesperson for the US Senate. Friends of Sherrod Brown, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“We are proud of the grassroots coalition he has built and have no doubt it will rally behind him again this year.”
Brown's race against Moreno in November will be one of the most watched races in the country. Many consider it one of the best chances Republicans have to take back control of the Senate, which Democrats currently hold by a 51-49 margin.
The Cook political report considers the Ohio Senate race a “toss-up.”
