Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio holds an unusual distinction in the 2018 mid-campaign for Congress. He is a Democrat seeking re-election in a state President Trump carried easily two years ago. But unlike several colleagues in the same situation, the raspy-voiced populist has moved far ahead of Republican challenger Jim Renacci in polls assessing his bid for a third term. If he wins and Democrats manage to recapture the Senate, Brown stands to chair the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee – a worrisome prospect for Wall Street. An avid baseball fan, Brown sat down with CNBC Editor-at-Large John Harwood at the stadium in Columbus that is home to the AAA farm team for the Cleveland Indians. In an interview that followed the mailing of pipe bombs to prominent Democrats but preceded the mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, they discussed the nation’s political climate, the Democratic economic agenda, his sometime-partnership with President Trump, and the possibility that he might soon challenge Trump for the White House.   (Note: Recorded on Friday, October 26)