DAYTON, Ohio — On Sunday, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Democrat who has held a U.S. Senate seat in Ohio since 2007, was at a canvassing kick-off on North Ludlow Street telling Democratic supporters at a campaign field office that his reelection campaign was all about his support for workers and “reproductive rights.”

Never mind that reproductive rights are not at risk in Ohio, as that decision was made overwhelmingly by Ohio voters last November in a ballot referendum that amended their state constitution to guarantee the right to abortion and other reproductive “rights.”

Where Brown noticeably was absent the next day, and every other day this week, was Chicago at the Democratic National Convention that included a farewell to President Joe Biden and a nostalgic love fest with former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama and will conclude Thursday when Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepts the party’s nomination for the presidency.

Brown told CNN he wasn’t going and that he “often skip(s) conventions” or only goes for “maybe a day.” However, a detailed search of newspaper archives shows that he has attended every DNC since he was elected, including in 2016 when he told a reporter in Philadelphia that he had endured an “arduous” 32-day vetting process when the Hillary Clinton campaign considered picking him as her running mate and when he admitted he wanted the job more than he thought he would.

He was also in Charlotte, North Carolina, for Obama’s convention in 2012, the same year he was running for reelection to the Senate against Republican opponent Josh Mandel.

This week, though, Brown argues he is staying in Ohio because he is seeking reelection and that is what is most important. Brown faces Republican Bernie Moreno, a Cleveland businessman in a state that has turned decidedly Republican since Brown first ran for the Senate in 2006. More importantly, it is a state where former President Donald Trump, who is on the top of the ticket in this year’s matchup, is wildly popular.

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Just 256 miles due east of here, another senator and Democrat was also not in attendance at the convention — for very different reasons. He wants to be home with his children.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the freshman Democrat who earned his seat in 2022 while recovering from a serious stroke, and who has unabashedly bucked factions of his party over Israel, the border, and the treatment of Biden after the debate, told reporter Peter Savodnik at the Free Press, “I’ve got three young kids, and they’re out of school. That is four days I can spend with my children.”