Vulnerable Democrats distance from Harris amid crucial red-state Senate races
Two vulnerable Senate Democrats won't yet commit to campaigning with presumptive Democrat nominee Vice President Harris as they face re-election in states won by former President Trump last cycle.
Harris became the likely 2024 nominee after President Biden dropped out of the race in late July. While most of the Democrat Party is rallying behind Harris, Democrats in predominantly red states appear more hesitant to jump on board with the new-look ticket.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, running in one of the Democrats' most vulnerable Senate races of the 2024 cycle, avoided saying whether he would campaign with Harris.
"I’ve got my own schedule," Brown told CNN when asked about campaigning with likely nominee Harris. "She’s got her own schedule. I will focus on my race. My strategy is perhaps different from hers."
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"My job is to fight for Ohio workers. You can talk about the presidential race. That’s your job … I know that what will matter is people vote for me because I stand up for workers and will continue to fight for workers."
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Brown also suggested that he might not attend the upcoming Democratic National Convention, where Harris is expected to become the party's official nominee.
"I often skip conventions," Brown told the outlet.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mt., who was reportedly directly involved in recruiting Harris to the Senate in 2015 as then-chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, similarly said that he is focusing on his race in Montana.
"We’re working on my race right now – focused totally on that. Believe it or not, I am, and we’re going to win," Tester told the Washington Examiner. "We’ll deal with the presidential race when we have time to do that. I’m also dealing with the defense bill that’s pretty damn important."
Tester, who is yet to endorse Harris for the Democrat nomination, has said that he would support an open nomination process to select a new nominee.
"We run our own race," Tester said when asked if Harris could impact the Montana Senate race. "I develop my own enthusiasm."
Sen. Jackie Rosen, D-Nev., is also running to protect her seat. Asked by Fox News Digital if she will be campaigning with Harris this cycle, the senator's campaign did not respond.
"Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown both voted with Kamala Harris 100% of the time, so they own her record whether or not they want to campaign with her," National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Maggie Abboud told Fox News Digital in a statement. "A vote for Harris, Brown, and Tester is a vote to decriminalize border crossings, defund the police, and ban fracking."
Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.