Sen. Sherrod Brown victorious in Ohio despite onslaught of outside spending

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio defeated his Republican challenger Josh Mandel on Tuesday night.

The Democratic senator faced an onslaught of outside campaign spending from conservative groups like Crossroads GPS, which spent more than $6 million on the Ohio race.

The race was dominated by outside spending for both candidates. More than $16.6 million was spent to oppose Brown, while only about $2.2 million was spent in his favor. Mandel also faced $11.1 million in outside campaign spending, nearly half of that came from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Brown has been a vocal critic of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling. The controversial decision gave rise to Super PACs, which can receive unlimited sums of money to influence federal elections. He is also a strong supporter of labor unions and LGBT rights.

"A supporter of marriage equality, he’s fought for our community his whole career, and we’re looking forward to working with him on issues important to LGBT people and our families over the next term," Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said in a statement.