Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he will not be running for president in 2020.

According to a press release, Brown said his goal wasn’t to be president, but instead to drive a national conversation focused around issues involving working Ohioans, which he believes he’ll be able to do more of in the Senate. Brown also said he is not endorsing another Democratic candidate at this time.

“Connie and I have spent the last few months traveling around the country to make dignity of work a centerpiece of Democrats’ 2020 campaign, and we are so grateful to everyone who has welcomed us into their communities and into their lives. We’ve seen candidates begin taking up the dignity of work fight, and we have seen voters across the country demanding it – because dignity of work is a value that unites all of us. It is how we beat Trump, and it is how we should govern. That’s why I’m confident it will continue to be a focus for Democrats in 2020, and I plan on making sure that happens,” Brown wrote in the press release.

Since January, Brown visited early primary and caucus states as part of his “Dignity of Work” tour. Connie Schultz, a Kent State professional-in-residence and Brown’s wife, traveled with him.

They visited four states, including Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and finished the tour in South Carolina  early March. Brown focused heavily on workers rights, raising the minimum wage and affordable health care.

Brown said he was not deterred from running by the large number of Democratic candidates, money concerns or his status as a white male in a party that prizes diversity. He said has never aspired to be president and, in the end, decided he could do the most good in the Senate.

Brown said he will continue to call out President Donald Trump’s “phony populism” from his perch in the Senate and will “do everything I can to elect a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate in 2020.”

Brown won a third term in the Senate in November after beating Republican Congressman Jim Renacci.

Several other Democrats, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, former Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced this week that they would not join a presidential primary already packed with a dozen candidates. Democrats are awaiting word from former Vice President Joe Biden and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke about whether they will undertake highly anticipated campaigns that could reshape the race.

I support my husband, always.

It will surprise no one, I suspect, to know that I still think @SenSherrodBrown would be a wonderful president. https://t.co/8pRoW6A9iW

— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) March 7, 2019

First, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support as I ran for re-election in Ohio, and thank you for your support as we traveled the country on the Dignity of Work tour.

— Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) March 7, 2019

I will keep fighting for all workers across the country. And I will do everything I can to elect a Democratic President and a Democratic Senate in 2020. The best place for me to make that fight is in the United States Senate.

Believe me, we will fight.

— Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) March 7, 2019

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Lydia Taylor is the digital content editor. Contact her at [email protected]

Brandon Bounds is an assigning editor. Contact him at [email protected].