Ohio’s Democratic Senator, Sherrod Brown, is not up for re-election this year. But during his appearance in Akron on Sunday, the conversation kept coming back to this fall’s election.

Sherrod Brown in Akron

Brown was at the Akron-Summit County Public Library to promote his book, “Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America.” In discussing the sometimes unpopular positions that his predecessors had to take, he said lawmakers are most effective when they are not worrying about re-election. That prompted a big response from audience members like Charlie Nelson from Akron, who saw a parallel to last week’s impeachment hearings.

“I think we'd have had a much different outcome if the Senate was able to vote by secret ballot on calling of witnesses and for impeachment. I think it would have put some Senators in a position where they could vote their conscience.”

Sen. Brown also briefly expressed disappointment with how the media has been treated during the impeachment hearings.