Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) wrapped up his 鈥淒ignity of Work鈥� tour over the weekend with several stops in South Carolina.
Valerie Royzman, , covered Brown鈥檚 visit to the state. South Carolina voted heavily for President Donald Trump in 2016, but Royzman says despite that, Brown connected well with people.
鈥淥ne woman 鈥� it was in Florence 鈥� she really didn鈥檛 know a ton about Sherrod Brown,鈥� Royzman says. 鈥淏ecause she鈥檚 from South Carolina, he鈥檚 from Ohio 鈥� they鈥檙e different worlds. But after listening to him, she just sees that he is a person of the people. He speaks to the regular American. That鈥檚 what appeals to so many, I think.鈥�
Brown鈥檚 tour has focused around a pro-worker message, but the senator says he鈥檚 learned a lot about people鈥檚 views on issues like funding for children鈥檚 initiatives.
鈥淲e undervalue children in this society, whether it鈥檚 lack of funding for pediatric health or for early childhood education,鈥� Brown says. 鈥淎nd child care should be accessible and available to working class and middle class families.鈥�
Royzman says people overwhelmingly expressed concerns access to health care and raising the minimum wage.
鈥淗e is willing to sit down at the breakfast table with a complete stranger and say, 鈥榃hat can be done for your life to be a little bit easier? What do Americans need right now?鈥欌€� Royzman says. 鈥淧robably a lot of other candidates just aren鈥檛 as likable in that way.鈥�
A statement from the RNC notes South Carolina overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump in 2016 and said Brown has a 鈥渇ar-left Democrat agenda.鈥�
Brown鈥檚 tour has taken him to several early primary states, and Brown says he鈥檒l announce by the end of this month whether he鈥檒l .
A Stop In Selma
On Sunday, Brown flew to Selma, Ala., where he joined other notable Democrats for a day of events commemorating the infamous "Bloody Sunday" in 1965. The demonstration began peacefully but ended in police beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, an event that galvanized support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act that year.
After attending the Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast, which also included 2020 contenders Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Bernie Sanders (D-Ver.), Brown took part in a march over Edmund Pettus Bridge.
It was Brown's fifth visit to Selma, where he drew a connection between civil rights and workers' rights.
"We need to understand what happened here and we need to talk about it so we keep fighting on these issues," Brown told reporters at the breakfast. "It's clear we make progress and then we fall back because of Republican attacks on voting rights."
Claiming that the Georgia governor election was stolen from Democrat Stacey Abrams, Brown said: "It's not just a Southern issue, of course. In the north we see all kinds of changes in voting laws. We see suppression of the vote in 2016, purging of voters in my state in a big way. This fight continues. It's become personal in many ways because voting rights are so important to our country."
Voter suppression emerged as a key issue in the 2018 midterm elections in states such as Georgia and North Carolina, where a Republican congressional candidate was accused of rigging the contest there through absentee ballots. House Democrats signaled they plan to make ballot access a priority in the new Congress, introducing legislation aimed at protecting voting rights in 2020 and beyond.
