Since I sent you the note below on October 1, I’ve met with voters every day from Wilberforce to Lima to Pickaway to Youngstown. Not all of you have been able to come out to a campaign stop, so I want you to know: In cities, suburbs, small towns, and farm country: Ohioans are showing up. People are ready for change. Our message is resonating because we’re telling the truth. But the reason we’ve been able to get that message out to every part of the state is because of you. The other side is relying on billionaires who think of our state as something they fly over, and who have no idea what it’s like to actually work for a living. They’re spending ungodly sums of money and they expect a return on that investment. If we win in two days, it will be because we built this the right way. It’ll be because grassroots supporters like you helped us go toe to toe with some of the wealthiest people in the world. So I have to ask you one more time: can you help me run through the tape to Election Night? Chip in to support our grassroots efforts and field team in the final stretch. Or sign up to volunteer, which you can do from wherever you’re reading this. Thank you for believing in me and the people of Ohio. Now let’s win this. - Sherrod
With the election just days away, I’m leaving the house early every morning to hit the campaign trail. Before I go, I say goodbye to Connie if she isn’t campaigning with me that day (she’s great on the trail), I give Franklin and Walter a scratch behind the ears (they’re not as good on the trail), and I stop at the door to read a small note Connie and I have come to appreciate more than we ever anticipated: “GO FIND THE JOY!”
Go find the joy… it’s easy on some days. But to tell you the truth, there are some days when it’s a challenge. It can be a challenge to find joy when I travel the state and hear from family after family who are struggling to afford gas and groceries right now. It’s a challenge when some of the wealthiest, most powerful people on the planet are spending millions of dollars to lie about me on every TV in the state. It’s even a challenge to be away from Connie and the dogs so often. But somehow, despite those challenges, when I look for joy, I can always find it. I know you might be facing challenges of your own – worries about the economy, fears about the future, or just the everyday things that can make life tough. So, I’d like to lend you a little joy I’ve found on the campaign trail lately. I found joy on the long drive from Columbus to Steubenville, a blue-collar town on the Ohio River on the eastern edge of the state. We drove along the winding river. The trees were lush and green, it had just rained, and the air smelled new. That bit of joy, simply paying attention to this beautiful state, made me even more grateful to meet with an overflowing room of supporters at a local IBEW hall. It isn’t always easy to live on the outer edge of the state, but the folks I met had such pride in their town and such determination to build its future. I found joy in their resolve that day.
I found joy on another rainy day, this time in Cincinnati, meeting with students at a tailgate on campus before a Bearcats football game. As we ran from tent to tent to stay as dry as possible (not very successfully), I was reminded of one of the many reasons I’m in this fight: for the young people across this state whose audacious dreams should come before the billionaires and corporations rigging the system. I’m in this fight and out on the trail, rain or shine, because young people deserve a senator who fights for their future. I found joy in their enthusiasm that day.
I found joy when 500 supporters gathered in Cleveland to welcome Connie and me to the city for a big rally. I looked around the room and saw hundreds of hopeful faces, each one showing up on a Wednesday night because they are mad about the direction Jon Husted has dragged this country, they’re mad the cost to fill their gas tank has doubled, they’re mad Washington keeps giving billionaires tax cuts while their health premiums double or triple. But they weren’t just mad, they were eager. Eager because they know Election Day is just around the corner and they’re ready to hold Washington accountable. Eager to unrig the system and build a better future for their loved ones. Eager to knock doors and make calls and make sure we win this fight. They know it takes all of us, and they showed up because they’re ready to put in the work. I found joy in their passion that night.
It may be challenging, but finding joy every day on the campaign trail makes me more resolved than ever to finish this fight and win this race. But I can’t do it alone – that’s why I’m grateful for you, and hopeful that, if you look for it, you can find the joy in this journey as well. Thank you for being in this fight with me. Together, with some grit, determination, and a whole lot of work, we’re going to win this fight. And we’re going to do it joyfully. Before you click away! Republican spending in Ohio has reached $320 million, and Sherrod Brown is counting on your support to keep up. We can’t outspend them, but we can outwork them.
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