Sherrod Brown’s lack of outreach to African-American voters raises concerns, undercover video shows

Concerns about Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown’s outreach to the African-American community have previously surfaced.

Now, they have seemingly reached the campaign of Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, according to an undercover video obtained by Ohio.News. The video appears to show a Sykes campaign volunteer raising concerns about Brown’s outreach during what appears to be a recent virtual call with volunteers.

“So I spoke with this African-American voter who’s definitely a strong supporter of Emilia, but she mentioned being concerned about the Senate seat because she hasn’t felt any outreach whatsoever from Sherrod Brown at all,” the volunteer asked. “And I was just curious if you’ve heard this before? I have heard this more than once, and I just wanted to bring it, basically, to you.”

Democrats are concerned about Sherrod Brown’s lack of outreach to Black voters, according to a video obtained exclusively by Ohio News: pic.twitter.com/0vrv07GRGU

— Ohio.news (@RealOhioNews) October 27, 2026

Cecili Antares, an organizing director for Democratic operations in Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, responded to the concern, saying she collects such information in “a weekly memo,” which she shares with the congresswoman.

“We have had that happen,” Antares said on the call. “I think that their … campaign is attempting to rectify some of that.

“…Unfortunately, we can only do what we can do, and that campaign is, you know, doing a totally separate … outreach plan than we are,” Antares added. “We are trying to coordinate with them [and] have joint events with them, so you know, and hopefully like bring — have them come to Akron and come to some of these neighborhoods and some of these events, so that there does feel like there’s some outreach.”

Undercover videos that Ohio.News previously obtained have suggested a disconnect in the Democratic Party, with some insiders acknowledging that the party takes minority voters for granted. Insiders in the videos suggested that Democrats turned to Brown this year, even though he didn’t reach out to Black voters until late in the 2024 election cycle.

Brown, who served in the U.S. Senate from 2007 until voters rejected him in 2024, is hoping to return to Washington. He is engaged in a tight race against Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted.

Brown previously served in the U.S. House and at the state level before his stint in the U.S. Senate. Republicans have frequently targeted his career in politics, saying he is out of touch.

“This is, in fact, the 20th campaign that Sherrod Brown has run in the state of Ohio,” Vice President JD Vance said in a campaign stop last week. “Twenty, and you’ve got to ask, what is it that a man is going to get done in 50 years that he couldn’t get done in the first 49, and the answer is not a damn thing.”