Sherrod Brown concerned Trump might ask for delay in November election

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he is worried President Trump will use Ohio’s decision to delay its Tuesday primary due to the coronavirus outbreak as a precedent to ask for the November election to be postponed. 

“My concern is that in the age of Trump that other governors might think, or that the president might ask, for a delay in the November election based on something, perhaps this, perhaps something else,” Brown said during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, The Columbus Dispatch reported. 

Brown said lawmakers can’t let Ohio’s action be a precedent.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called for polls to close hours before they were set to open Tuesday. The election has been pushed back to June 2. 

“I wish they had done this earlier. I think they could have done this on Friday. He’s in the arena doing this, I’m not,” Brown reportedly said of the governor. “I’m not super critical of him. I just wish they had done this earlier.”

DeWine said in-person voting would put Ohio voters and poll workers at risk, pointing to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines at the time recommending gatherings be kept smaller than 50 people. 

“We should not force them to make this choice, the choice between their health and their constitutional rights and duties,” DeWine said earlier this week.

Ninety coronavirus cases have been reported in Ohio, according to data compiled by The New York Times, with the largest amount in the Cleveland area.