COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — 2024 was a dismal year at the ballot box for Democrats in Ohio and Washington D.C., losing the White House, the U.S. Senate and House, and at the Ohio Statehouse, Republicans strengthened their hold over the legislature. 

NBC 4’s Colleen Marshall had the first interview with Democrat U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown since he lost the election to Republican newcomer Bernie Moreno, where Brown talked about what went wrong for the Democrats. 

For decades, Ohioans supported Brown in the U.S. House and Senate. His message has been consistent – he said he believes in Ohioans and the dignity of work. 

WATCH: Sen. Brown on his long-term plans

He thought his message and record would push him to victory lane. 

“I mean, I wanted to win,” Brown said. “Obviously, I love serving Ohio. I think we got a lot done, from the pension bill to the pact act, both named after Ohioans, to the price of prescription drugs and what I’m really proud of is changing the debate on industrial policy and trade in this country to put workers first. So as I said, I wanted to win.” 

But he realized early on election night watching returns from key districts that he was about to lose and so were Democrats at the top of the ticket and across the nation. 

“But I think the voters expect Republicans to, to line up with the wealthy, with the rich and with corporate, with corporate interests, but they don’t expect, they expect the Democrats to fight for workers, and we haven’t done that as a party the way we should,” Brown said. “I mean, I lost this race. I ran seven and a half points better than the national than the national presidential candidate, and that’s about the best you can do.” 

“What does the party in this state have to do to turn itself around?” Marshall asked. 

“Well, there are a lot of reasons,” Brown said. “One is we don’t have the farm team, in large part because of gerrymandering. We don’t have, it’s very hard for Democrats to win more than about 35 seats in the legislature because the, just the way the districts are drawn. You can see the rigging of the elections last year, this past election, in terms of, in terms of how they put, how they did the ballot language, how they made it harder for young people to vote, how they look at issue one last year on abortion rights and leading into that, so part of it is is Republicans altering the rules, rigging the system that way.” 

WATCH: Sen. Brown reflects on his political career

When asked if he would consider a run for Ohio’s governor, Brown said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do next year. You can ask this question five different ways, and you’re going to get the same answer, Colleen. Nice try.” 

Brown added that he has spoken to people who would like to see him run for governor. 

“Oh, sure,” he said. “I mean, people, yeah, because I know a lot of people, and I’ve been successful every time I’ve run, except now twice and a long time and Sure. I mean, that’s not any surprise that people would want somebody that’s got a, you know, an overwhelmingly winning track record, but, you know, it’s still Christmas. Christmas. I haven’t, the election was like five weeks ago, so I didn’t expect to lose.”