Sen. Sherrod Brown is in a group of 10 Senate Democrats who are up for reelection this cycle in a state that Donald Trump won. | AP Photo Sherrod Brown will vote against Sessions

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced Friday that he would not vote to confirm Jeff Sessions for attorney general.

Brown appears to be the first Democratic senator to explicitly say he will oppose Sessions to lead the Justice Department, although several Democrats have signaled concerns about the Alabama senator’s conservative views on voting accessibility, immigration, civil rights and a myriad other issues.


But the liberal Brown is in a group of 10 Senate Democrats who are up for reelection this cycle in a state that Donald Trump won — prime targets for Republicans working to find bipartisan backing for Sessions and other high-profile Cabinet nominees.

“I have serious concerns that Senator Sessions’ record on civil rights is at direct odds with the task of promoting justice and equality for all, and I cannot support his nomination,” Brown said in a statement Friday. “Now, more than ever, we need leaders who can bring Americans together to improve police-community relations, ensure that all Americans have access to the ballot, and reform our criminal justice system.”

In December, Brown also noted that Sessions “was dissed by the Senate once for his racism” — a reference to allegations that Sessions made racially-charged comments as a federal prosecutor that sank his nomination for the federal judiciary in 1986.