Donna Cordell and Bill Myers graduated in the same class as Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown from Mansfield Senior High School in the North Central Ohio community in 1970.
鈥淚 met him my sophomore year,鈥� said Cordell. 鈥淗e was easy to approach, easy to talk to. We were not surprised that he went into politics because he knows how to work a crowd. 鈥�
鈥淚 do remember distinctly that he and I had a teacher, Miss Randall, and we had public speaking together,鈥� said Myers. 鈥淗e did good [in class]. He鈥檚 a natural.鈥�
Cordell remembers Brown organizing Mansfield's first Earth Day march.
鈥淭hat was April 22, 1970, and I remember being in the park in front of the school where we were out picking up trash,鈥� Cordell explained.
Fifty four years later, Brown is leading and organizing on a much larger stage. But after years in the senate, some political analysts are calling this year's race the fight of his career. Mansfield voters show the advantages Brown holds and the challenges he faces in his bid for reelection.
Brown鈥檚 father was a physician in Mansfield. A tarnished door knocker engraved with the name Brown remains on the front door of their former home on Marion Avenue.
Ed Kossick and his wife are now raising their family in that home. Kossick is a teacher at Clear Fork Valley Schools and he鈥檚 well aware of who the door knocker refers to.
鈥淲e asked [Brown] if he wanted the knocker and he's like, 鈥楴o, keep it, keep the knocker with the door鈥�. And, you know, he kind of laughed about it,鈥濃�� said Kossick.
Kossick gave Brown a video tour showing off the home improvements he's most proud of. And during the holidays they鈥檝e exchanged photos comparing the best place to set-up the Christmas tree.
Brown鈥檚 campaign themes focus on protecting Medicare and the rights of workers and unions. Kossick is president of his school鈥檚 teacher's union and shares Brown鈥檚 political philosophies.
鈥淲e鈥檙e keeping the democratic vibes here,鈥� Kossick said, smiling.
But Mansfield has changed dramatically since Brown lived i that house. Brown鈥檚 former classmate Bill Myers said Mansfield was all industry in the 1960s and 鈥�70s.
鈥淎nd it is all gone,鈥� Myers said. 鈥淢ansfield was a blue collar working town. You could lose a job one day and have another job the same day, and it's just not like that now. I have two sons that are bringing up their families, and they're fighting and things are tough.鈥�
Myers committed his vote to Brown in the November election, but not for the top of the democratic ticket. He lost hope in the party.
鈥淎ll my life I've been a Democrat until recently,鈥� Myers said. 鈥淚 don't really think that they're for the working man anymore. But, Sherrod, I think he's a little different. I think he still holds on to those old beliefs. I really do.鈥�
Nearly 70% of Richland County voters went for Trump in 2020. (Brown fared slightly better in the county the last time he was on the ballot, in 2018, capturing 40% of the vote.) Driving into Mansfield from the north through the back roads, Trump 2024 yard signs outnumbered all the others combined. A large homemade banner stood in the yard of a home in Savannah, about 18 miles northeast of Mansfield. It read in part, 鈥淪ave America, Stop Communism鈥�.
Charles Osborn made that sign and has lived in his house for more than half a century. Like Myers, he too used to be a Democrat, but changed parties with the rise of Ronald Reagan in 1980s. As for trusting Brown, who grew up in the next town over, Osborn had reservations.
"He likes to play the Republican side to get votes,鈥� said Osborn. 鈥淭hat's how I see him."
Mansfield has changed since Brown鈥檚 early days running for office. Buildings once home to business and manufacturing sit empty next to homes falling into disrepair 鈥� a common view in some midwestern cities that have lost steel and auto plants.
But in the minds of those who remain here after Brown left, like his former classmate Donna Cordell, there鈥檚 hope.
鈥淧eople still have that hope for this area, for this community,鈥� said Cordell.