Sherrod Campbell Brown (born November 9, 1952) is the junior United States Senator from the state of Ohio, and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the Senate in 2006, Brown served as a member of the House of Representatives from Ohio's 13th district and as Ohio's Secretary of State.

Brown was born in Mansfield, Ohio to Emily Campbell and Charles Gailey Brown, M.D. He became an Eagle Scout in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian studies from Yale University in 1974. At Yale, he was in Davenport College, the same residential college as U.S. Presidents George H. W. and George W. Bush. He went on to receive a Master of Arts degree in education and public administration from Ohio State University in (Columbus) in 1981. He taught at the Mansfield branch campus of Ohio State University from 1979 to 1981.

Brown served as an Ohio state representative from 1974 to 1982. He was one of the youngest state representatives in Ohio history, and supposedly, shortly after taking office, he was mistaken for an intern and asked to fetch coffee by a staffer. In 1982, he won a four-way Democratic primary that included Dennis Kucinich, now a Cleveland Congressman, then defeated Republican Virgil Brown in the general election for the office of Ohio Secretary of State, succeeding Anthony J. Celebrezze Jr.. In 1986, Brown won re-election as secretary of state, defeating Vincent C. Campanella. In 1990, Brown lost when trying for a third term as secretary of state to Republican Bob Taft.