These Democratic senators are in some of the most competitive races of 2024. They also won’t be at the DNC

A trio of Democratic senators running in some of the most competitive races in the country are opting against attending the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, even as their party looks to display a heightened level of enthusiasm and unity for newly minted presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

A trio of Democratic senators running in some of the most competitive races in the country are opting against attending the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, even as their party looks to display a heightened level of enthusiasm and unity for newly minted presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada are all not planning to attend the four-day gathering, their offices said. Other Democrats in battleground state races, including Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of neighboring Wisconsin, are planning to attend at least some of the gathering. Brown and Tester represent states that Donald Trump carried by comfortable margins in 2016 and 2020, while Rosen represents Nevada, one of the most heated battleground states in the country for any Democrat. The absence of Brown, Tester and Rosen comes as Democrats attempt to preserve their narrow Senate majority with the possibility that a Republican pickup in any of these races could swing control of the chamber in November. Of the three senators skipping the Democratic confab, Rosen has looked the most favorable for Democrats, but even some in the party privately maintain that public polling hasn’t fully captured how close the race is. The explanations for why each candidate isn’t attending the DNC vary. Brown’s campaign said the senator and his team have “been planning to be in Ohio for months,” listing a series of cities he will be visiting instead. But Brown has not avoided backing the Democratic presidential ticket; he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president after President Joe Biden exited the race in late July. In Montana, Tester is planning to go to a fundraiser in Missoula and a Pearl Jam concert at the University of Montana this coming week. The senator, who has not yet endorsed Harris for president, planned to spend August meeting with Montanans and farming. As for Nevada, a Rosen campaign spokesperson stressed Thursday that the senator does support the Harris-Walz ticket “and was glad to join them on the campaign trail in Las Vegas this past weekend” but she is also “focused on her own reelection and will be talking with Nevada voters during the week of the convention.” Rosen was with Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, during a rally in Las Vegas earlier this month. Rosen did not attend the DNC in 2016, when she was running for a House seat, or in 2020, a downsized, largely virtual convention that took place a couple years into her Senate term.