Sherrod Brown: I won on the issues

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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Avon)

YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown said his election victory is proof that voters care more about a candidate’s position on important issues rather than labels such as “left” and “right” that give a sweeping generalization about a person’s politics.

Brown, an Avon Democrat, defeated two-term U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, a Cedarville Republican, by more than 12 percentage points in last month’s election.

Brown doesn’t run from being labeled a “liberal” and a “populist,” but said those terms are used mostly by those involved with politics.

“The public looks at [candidates] as to whose side are you on,” Brown said in a Monday interview with The Vindicator. “The public is interested in the minimum wage, trade, Iraq, embryonic stem cell. Where am I out of the mainstream on those issues?”

Brown said he doesn’t oppose gay marriage, something a majority of Ohioans oppose.

“When you talk about jobs, education and health care, that trumps what most people think about gay rights,” he said.

Brown said a friend had told him he’d have trouble winning the Senate race because he’s too left. The friend suggested Brown move more to the center of the political spectrum.

“I am who I am,” he said. “You run the way you are.”