Multiple people, including Jon Husted, attended the Republican campaign rally in Vandalia where President Donald Trump will speak at 7 p.m. BRYANT BILLING/STAFF
In an exclusive interview, Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Husted acknowledged that the midterms can be tough on the party in power but he shrugged off polls that suggest he is trailing his Democratic opponent, Sherrod Brown, and said he and other Republicans will win if Ohio voters who supported President Trump two years ago turn out in significant numbers.
In early October, Husted sat for an hour-long, wide-ranging conversation with six reporters and editors from the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal-News. Husted talked about the cost of living, inflation, the Ohio economy, the Iran war, data centers, President Trump, Haiti’s loss of Temporary Protected Status, ICE activities in Springfield and other subjects.
Brown, Husted make pitches on affordability, data centers and more in U.S. Senate race
This news outlet extended an invitation to Brown for a similar interview. Brown’s campaign declined.
Here is some of what Husted said:
Data centers
On the campaign trail Brown repeatedly has said Husted is the “face of data centers” and Ohioans’ utility bills have skyrocketed because of the Republican’s efforts to develop these kinds of facilities across the state.
Husted, however, says he tried to pass legislation over the summer that would seek to ensure that data centers pay for the energy infrastructure and additional power needed for their projects. The measure passed the House by a vote of 417-3, but it failed in the Senate after falling short of the filibuster-proof threshold to advance (60 votes). GOP leaders said Democrats voted against the bill to avoid giving Husted and other Republicans a win before the midterm elections.
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“When we’re public policy makers, we listen to what people say, we hear them, we do something about it,” Husted said. “That’s what I tried to do in this particular case. Chuck Schumer, Sherrod Brown, the Democrats want to talk about affordability, but they don’t want to do anything about it.”
Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, D-N.Y., called Husted’s bill “toothless” and said it does not create any meaningful protections. Husted said decisions about data centers should be made at the local level, and state and federal governments do not and should not have the authority to tell local communities that they must accept a data center project.
Iran war
Husted said the Iran war needs to end as soon as possible. But the senator also said the conflict must end on terms that are favorable to the United States.
Last month, the Senate voted 49-50 against a resolution that would have directed President Donald Trump to end military hostilities with Iran, and Husted voted against the measure, along with U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio.
Husted said the resolution would have set terms that are advantageous to Iran and a “nuclear armed Iran that controls the Strait of Hormuz is not going to be good for America or the world.”
Husted said he believes Iran is causing as much pain as it can against the U.S. and President Trump ahead of the midterm elections, but once the election is over the country’s leaders will want to come to the negotiating table seeking peace.
Husted said the price of gasoline should dramatically decrease once the Iran conflict is resolved and the U.S. gets Venezuela’s oil operations online. If elected, Brown says one of his first priorities will be to end the Iran War.
Trump impact, polling
President Trump visited Vandalia and Youngstown earlier this month to stump for Husted and Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and the president has asked voters to pretend like he is on the ballot, which he hopes will juice Republican turnout and help Husted prevail.
If there is high voter turnout, Husted said he should win the race, and the senator was dismissive of polls that have Brown in the lead. He pointed out that some past polls were poor indicators of election results.
A YouGov poll of likely voters conducted in mid to late September had Brown at 49% and Husted at 45%. A poll conducted by InsiderAdvantage showed an even tighter contest, with Brown only up by 1 point.
Husted said polls ahead of J.D. Vance’s and Bernie Moreno’s senate victories were wrong.
Back in mid-October 2022, Vance held a very narrow lead over the Democratic challenger in some polls but he ended up winning the race by 6 points. Some polls right before the 2024 general election showed Brown with a slight lead over Moreno or had Moreno up by a slim margin, and the Republican businessman ended up winning by 3.6 percentage points.
“I guess maybe someday (the polls) will be right, but they haven’t been,” Husted said.
Ohio has way more registered Republicans than registered Democrats, though the number of unaffiliated registered voters far exceeds both groups. Ohio once was a purple state but has been reliably red for years, and Trump easily won the state all three times he was on the ballot, including by 11 points in 2024 and by 8 points in 2020 and 2016.
But campaigning with Trump carries some risk. With just weeks to go before the midterms, Trump’s approval numbers have been stuck at a record low, and some Ohioans are unhappy about the president’s handling of the Iran war and blame him for high fuel costs and other pocketbook concerns.
President Donald Trump, pictured with U.S. Sen. Jon Husted at Saturday’s rally in Vandalia, said Husted and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner are working to restore Delphi retirees’ pensions. Trump pledged his administration’s involvement, blaming the pension cuts on “problems caused by Barack Obama’s policies.” Bryant Billing — Staff Bryant Billing — Staff
Bryant Billing – Staff
ICE, Haitians in Springfield
Asked about Haitians losing Temporary Protected Status and ICE arrests and enforcement activities in Springfield, Husted said the U.S. immigration system has been broken for a very long time, and he believes in the rule of law and that immigrants need to follow the country’s rules.
“I understand that somebody may not like the law but it is the law and we can’t just pick and choose the laws we want to follow,” Husted said. “We have to enforce them.”
Husted said his office met with advocates for immigrants and refugees and shared information about potential pathways for legal status. But Husted said President Trump was very clear during his campaign about his intentions to end TPS for Haiti and other countries if he was elected.
“This should have caught nobody by surprise,” Husted said. “It was well announced before people took a vote in the last election for President Trump. He said this was what he was going to do and it’s what he did.”
Husted alleges the Biden Administration promoted open borders and sanctuary policies that made the country less safe. According to Husted, ICE activities in Springfield are going “smoother” than in a lot of other places because local law enforcement officials are working cooperatively with federal agents instead of resisting.
Brown has said it is not safe for Haitian Americans to return to their home country and the removal of these foreign nationals will hurt the state and local economies. Brown has said that foreign nationals who are criminals should be deported, but TPS should be extended for Haitians who were here legally and are contributing members of the community.
Sherrod Brown speaks with voters at the Aron Wright House in Springboro on Saturday, Sept. 12. Brown is the Democratic challenger running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted. JESSICA OROZCO / STAFF
Other topics
Husted said one of his legislative priorities is the “Upward Mobility Act,” which seeks to address the “benefits cliff.” The benefits cliff is a situation wherein a small increase in income results in people losing eligibility for public benefits, like food stamps, rental assistance, public housing, child care assistance and other subsidies or aid. Husted’s bill would create a pilot program that he says tries to gradually transition people off benefits with the goal of allowing them to climb the economic ladder while reducing government support.
Although he agrees with Trump on many issues, Sen. Husted said he broke with the president over his efforts to build a new ballroom at the White House, which is expected to cost $900 million or more. Husted was one of six GOP senators who voted against spending taxpayer dollars on the project. He says he believes this is not an appropriate use of public money.
Husted also said he voted to prohibit the Justice Department from creating a $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which critics claim would provide taxpayer dollars to alleged political “victims,” like Trump’s political allies. The proposed fund faced significant backlash and ultimately was cancelled.
President Trump has floated the idea of nationalizing U.S. elections. Husted, who is Ohio’s former secretary of state, said he has a high degree of confidence in the state’s elections system and election security. He said he helped make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in the Buckeye State, including by supporting a voter ID law and standardizing the absentee voter system.
At the end of the day, Husted told this news outlet that he sees the world very differently from Brown.
“He sees the world as a zero sum game — like ‘Hunger Games’ where if one person does well, that means another person does poorly,” Husted said. “I see the world as a place where you can grow the pie and everyone can succeed, both businesses and workers.”