Ohio Senate contest heats up as Husted attacks Brown’s Washington record

At the annual Summer Farm Fest in Marysville, Ohio, Republican senator Jon Husted launched an aggressive critique of former Democratic senator Sherrod Brown, asserting that Brown’s three-decade stint in Washington produced no tangible benefits for Ohioans. Husted highlighted issues such as rising electricity rates, immigration-related spending, and health-care costs, blaming Brown’s support for sanctuary cities and climate-driven plant closures.

He also defended his own record, noting legislation on data-center power use and pointing to low unemployment and job growth under his watch. Brown, who lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, has been running ads accusing Husted of supporting costly data centers. Despite Husted’s claims, a June one outlet's poll indicates the Republican trails the Democrat, a key battle as Democrats aim to flip one of the four Senate seats needed for control. The contest is shaping up as a bellwether for the upcoming November midterms.