Obama headlines Cleveland rally for Ohio Democrats Brown and Acton
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The gist
Former president Barack Obama rallied in Cleveland with Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
Ohio has shifted Republican, so Democrats need heavy Cleveland turnout to compete.
Background
Barack Obama is the former U.S. president who carried Ohio twice, with Cleveland and Cuyahoga County central to those wins. Sherrod Brown is a former three-term U.S. senator seeking to reclaim his seat from Republican Sen. Jon Husted, and Amy Acton is Ohio's former health director running for governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. Ohio was once a key presidential battleground but has shifted toward Republicans, and Trump carried the state by 11 percentage points in 2024. The rally was Obama's first trip to Ohio since 2018, when he campaigned in Cleveland for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray.
How it unfolded
- Oct 23, 2026cleveland.com reports Obama will headline a Cleveland rally for Amy Acton, Sherrod Brown and other Ohio Democrats; the location is kept private and revealed to RSVPed attendees.
- Oct 24, 2026Obama speaks at the "Fighting for Ohio" rally at Cleveland's Public Auditorium, which holds around 10,000 people, less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 election.
- Oct 24, 2026Obama has a rally planned for Democratic candidates in Michigan that Saturday night.
Who’s saying what
- Obama
- Obama said "this election is our last best chance to at least rein in some of the foolishness of this administration" and called for voters to "flip that circuit breaker."
- Democrats
- Brown said "today, corruption is woven into everything" and named Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Donald Trump as billionaires propping up Husted's campaign, while Acton told Ramaswamy he is "a danger to my state."
- GOP
- Husted campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said the "Brown-Obama duo gave us higher taxes, less jobs and wide open borders" and that Ohioans are ready to elect Husted on Nov. 3.
Still unverified
Organizers said ticket holders would be notified 24 hours before the event about the exact location, and further details about the rally were not clear.