COLUMBUS--The fight of Martin Luther King, Jr., continues today in Ohio against efforts to restrict worker and voting rights, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown told a crowd honoring the slain civil rights leader Monday.
The Democratic senator made the remarks even though the man who signed two laws that he referred to, Republican Gov. John Kasich, was seated close by.
"Today Martin Luther King would recognize that we're in troubling times," Mr. Brown said.
"We've seen an assault all over our nation on worker rights. The state next to us, Indiana, we're seeing another right-to-work initiative that will in all likelihood go into effect.
"We're seeing radical attempts in state after state to roll back voting rights," he said.
" … We're seeing it unfold, including here in Ohio, where there is a major effort to roll back voting rights. That effort so far has failed because of so many people in this room."
Both laws, passed solely with Republican votes, have been subjected to voter-referendum efforts. Senate Bill 5, the law restricting the collective-bargaining power of public employees, was overwhelmingly rejected by voters last year.
A referendum on House Bill 194, the election-reform law, is set for the November election.
The law, among numerous other provisions, shortens the windows for absentee and early voting, prohibits county board of elections from mass-mailing absentee ballot applications to registered voters, and establishes uniform standards for the counting of provisional ballots, the ballot of last resort when a voter's eligibility is in doubt.
After the event, Mr. Kasich did not take issue with Mr. Brown for the comments.
"This is a breakfast for people who express their views," he said.
"You listen to them. You show respect. This is a place where you expect to hear different points of view. Nothing more than that. Sherrod and I had a chat today about a couple of things, and that's good," Mr. Kasich said.
Later, Mr. Brown, who is seeking re-election this year, told reporters that he thought an event honoring Mr. King was an appropriate venue for talk of worker and voting rights.