With Sherrod Brown, a former U.S. senator, considering a return to politics by either running for a seat in the Senate or for governor next year, both races on the Democratic side remain up in the air.

Actually the entire Democratic ticket for 2026, unlike the Republicans, is uncertain.

When Brown will make his decision on whether to run for Senate, governor or at all isn’t known, but it should be in a few months.

Dr. Amy Acton, the party’s only declared candidate for governor, told me during a recent visit to Youngstown: “Sherrod Brown will probably be making some decisions about his career. What I’m hearing from people is they love us both and they would love to see us both at the top of the ticket. But I’m running for governor, and I refuse to look the other way when we continue to go backwards in this state on nearly every measure.”

I asked if there was a candidate or a situation where she would drop out of the governor’s race.

Acton said, “I’m running for governor, and I’m not looking the other way.”

During our discussion, I mentioned to Acton that Attorney General Dave Yost told me, less than a month before he withdrew from the Republican race for governor, that there wasn’t anything that would get him out of the race.

She said: “I can’t speak to Dave Yost. I know Dave well, but I can’t speak to his” decision.

Brown is one of the most recognizable politicians in Ohio, spending 48 of the last 50 years in elected office, including 18 as a senator. But even Brown couldn’t defeat Republican Bernie Moreno, who was backed by Donald Trump and had the benefit of sharing the ticket with the president. Moreno won by 4.6% while Trump won Ohio by 11.2%.

Brown greatly outperformed Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate for president, in Ohio. But Brown lost to a first-time candidate and couldn’t overcome the popularity of Trump in this state.

Also, Tim Ryan, who represented the Mahoning Valley in the U.S. House for 20 years before losing a 2022 Senate race, is giving strong consideration to running for governor. Ryan lost to Republican J.D. Vance by 6.1%. Ryan outperformed all other Democrats on the 2022 statewide ticket. But Vance, another first-time candidate, had Trump’s support, while national Democrats largely chose to abandon Ryan.

Ryan is making significantly more money now than ever, advocating for natural gas and cryptocurrency, while also being able to spend more time with his family than he did during his two decades in Congress.

Yet as he told me back in December: “I love politics and public policy so I’m never going to rule it out. Money was never a big driver for me. It was always about the service, so we’ll see what the future holds. But I’m not ruling anything out.”

Ryan continues to talk about possibly running for governor and should have a decision in a few months. He could be waiting for Brown to decide, though he might not step aside even if the former senator decides to run for governor.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, told Cleveland.com that he would consider running for the Senate seat if Brown doesn’t seek it. There are a number of Democrats who would consider a Senate bid if Brown doesn’t run for the position.

Some little-known Democrats have declared for the Senate seat.

Brown was the last Democrat — not including Ohio Supreme Court justices when they used to run without party affiliation — to win a statewide election. That was in 2018. He also won in 2012 and 2006 for the Senate seat.

While Democrats were competitive in 2018 statewide executive branch races, all of their candidates lost. The party’s candidates weren’t even competitive in 2022.

A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide executive branch race since 2008.

As of today, only three Democrats have declared for the five executive branch seats on next year’s ballot: Acton for governor, Dr. Bryan Hambley for secretary of state and Elliot Forhan for attorney general.

That comes with a huge caveat: those Democratic candidates could certainly find themselves facing opposition. Actually, it would be surprising to see them run unopposed.

While the Democratic ticket in 2018 wasn’t finalized this early, it was a lot further along than it is for the 2026 election.

The Republican executive branch ticket is essentially set — and has been for a while — with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, running for governor. Three statewide officeholders — Treasurer Robert Sprague, Auditor Keith Faber and Secretary of State Frank LaRose — are planning to run for different statewide positions, with at least four Republican candidates interested in state treasurer.

Also, Ohio is a much more Republican state since Trump first ran for president. Democrats complain about gerrymandering rigging elections. It’s a legitimate argument when it comes to state and congressional legislative lines.

But it doesn’t explain the lengthy drought the party has experienced on a statewide level.

David Skolnick is a political writer for the Youngstown Vindicator and Warren Tribune-Chronicle, sister Ogden newspapers with the Columbiana Country newspapers. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.