Brown launches tour in four early nominating states amid 2020 consideration

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced Tuesday night that he’s launching a “Dignity of Work” tour in four early nominating states as he continues to explore a 2020 presidential campaign.

Brown has been seriously considering a White House bid to take on President Trump since the November midterm elections. His tour will kick off on Jan. 30 in Cleveland, with a stop in Iowa the following day. He has yet to announce the dates of his other stops in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

In a Tuesday interview on MSNBC, Brown said that he and his wife, journalist Connie Schultz, haven’t decided on a 2020 campaign and will make that decision “in the weeks ahead.”

“The message of dignity of work will work for any Democratic nominee that comes down the line in the next several months,” Brown said during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes.”{mosads}

The Ohio senator’s tour launch comes just hours after Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said that she’s forming an exploratory committee in a clip released from her Tuesday night appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Brown, who has progressive bona fides, has served in the Senate since 2006 and easily cruised to reelection in the 2018 midterms. Brown’s victory was a silver lining for Democrats given that Republicans held onto the governor’s mansion and didn’t flip several targeted House races.

Ohio, a perennial presidential battleground, will play a key role in the 2020 race, especially after Trump won the Buckeye State by 8 points in 2016. Some Democrats see Brown as a candidate who could win over both progressives and Trump voters, especially since the two overlap on issues like trade.

As Brown continues to mull a run, more Democrats are jumping into the race, which has quickly accelerated in recent days.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched an exploratory committee on New Year’s Eve and has been making multiple stops in the early nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Other recent presidential announcements include Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Julián Castro, a former Housing and Urban Development secretary in the Obama administration.

But there are a host of other likely White House hopefuls waiting in the wings, including former Vice President Joe Biden and Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

Republicans have been anticipating a run by Brown and conservative group America Rising has already started conducting opposition research on his wife, according to BuzzFeed News.

Max Greenwood contributed.