What Sherrod Brown says went wrong in his Senate race — and for Democrats

For more on Sherrod Brown’s Senate defeat, watch CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju” this Sunday at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m ET.

For more on CNN’s interview with Sherrod Brown, watch CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju” this Sunday at 8 a.m. ET and 11 a.m ET. Sherrod Brown can boil down the loss of his Senate seat to this: Donald Trump and withering GOP attacks. And the top of his ticket didn’t help him much, either. As the veteran Ohio Democrat takes stock of the loss in his marquee race, he also has a blunt message for his party: Win back working-class voters or lose more elections. “I think that we don’t appear to be fighting for them,” Brown said when asked why Trump won the same blue-collar workers whom the Democratic senator has prided himself in courting through the course of his three-plus decades in Congress. “Workers have drifted away from the Democratic Party.” In a wide-ranging interview with CNN, Brown bluntly criticized his party for not addressing voter concerns over rising consumer costs and declining economic conditions. And he accused Republicans — including his foe in the Senate race, Trump-aligned businessman Bernie Moreno — of distorting his record as he battled the headwinds at the top of the ticket.