Trump, who won Ohio three times by comfortable margins, opened his speech with praise for both before moving into broader remarks to promote himself and his administration. He also offered support for local Rep. Mike Turner and for several House candidates in attendance, including Derek Merrin, the Republican running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio.<\/p>\n
Husted\u2019s bid to keep the Senate seat \u2014 which he was appointed to after JD Vance was elected vice president \u2014 has in particular become a subject of concern among Republicans in Ohio and Washington. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo<\/a> that Husted\u2019s past enthusiasm for building data centers was hurting his campaign. Others have expressed worries<\/a> that Husted, who has long wanted to be governor, has not put his full heart into the race.<\/p>\n The battle is one of the most expensive and competitive Senate races in the country this fall. Along with a handful of other key contests, the clash between Husted and Brown could determine partisan control of the chamber. This week, Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, poured another $14 million into Ohio<\/a> to prop up Husted, bringing the group\u2019s investment in the state to $93 million. <\/p>\n \u201cSenator Jon Husted votes to put Ohio first, and he votes all the time,\u201d Trump said before relating conversations he\u2019s had with Thune and others: \u201cThey think he\u2019s phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n The high school gym where Trump spoke Saturday night was a smaller venue than has been typical for his rallies. The home court of the Butler High School Aviators seats up to 5,000. There were several stretches of empty seats in upper bleachers as Trump took the stage \u2014 and many more by the time he finished speaking 93 minutes later. <\/p>\n In Ohio and elsewhere, Republicans are wrestling with how to win at a time when polls<\/a> show Trump and the war in Iran<\/a> are highly unpopular and when voters most loyal to Trump might stay home because he\u2019s not on the ballot. <\/p>\n \u201cAs a lifelong Republican who\u2019s voted in every election since I was 18 and in every primary election as a Republican, I have real concerns that we\u2019re going to be able to turn out the every-four-year Trump voter,\u201d Nick Owens, a former GOP chair in Ohio\u2019s Brown County and former member of the state Board of Education, told NBC News last month. \u201cI have real concerns that those voters just will not come to the polls.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump acknowledged that dynamic explicitly Saturday and repeated an argument he\u2019s been making on the campaign trail this fall.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I run, we win,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBut for some reason, when I don\u2019t run, they draw 44% less people. So what I\u2019m going to do is ask you to just pretend that I\u2019m running, because if we do, and if you draw the people, you\u2019re going to win, and we\u2019re going to win big.\u201d <\/p>\n Husted, speaking to reporters before the rally, described Trump as a unique asset in his race.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he won Ohio by 11 points<\/a> in the last election, and if we get those same voters to turn out in this election, we\u2019ll win,\u201d Husted said. <\/p>\n Alex Triantafilou, the Ohio GOP chair, told NBC News that the rally was \u201chugely important\u201d in the effort to motivate those low-propensity, Trump-loyal voters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know in Ohio that if we turn out the same electorate that we turned out in 2024, that we\u2019ll win every race,\u201d Triantafilou said in an interview. \u201cNobody speaks to that crowd better than President Trump.\u201d <\/p>\n The Saturday rally included a cameo from Jon Gruden, the former NFL coach who years ago was a teammate of Husted\u2019s on the University of Dayton football team.<\/p>\n \u201cJon Husted is a lot more than my friend,\u201d an animated Gruden told the audience. \u201cHe was a great player. \u2026 He will never quit on you or anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump marveled about Husted\u2019s football-playing days, of which he said he was unaware until hearing about them from Gruden.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody told me you were a great athlete,\u201d Trump said, before taking a jab at his Democratic rival: \u201cAnd Brown was not \u2014 he was not an athlete. That guy can\u2019t tie his shoes.\u201d <\/p>\n For its part Saturday, the Brown team sent a mobile billboard linking Husted\u2019s support for the war in Iran to higher gas prices through Dayton and on the streets near the rally.<\/p>\n \u201cJon Husted has turned his back on working families \u2014 he\u2019s only looking out for his billionaire buddies and special interests,\u201d Brown said in a statement from his campaign.<\/p>\n Ohio also is home to what polls show is a close race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Ramaswamy faces Democrat Amy Acton, a physician who served as the state\u2019s health director under DeWine. Ohioans have not elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years, but at a time when high prices rate as a top-of-mind concern for voters, there are questions<\/a> about the billionaire Ramaswamy\u2019s appeal, especially in the rural parts of the state.<\/p>\n Ramaswamy, like Husted, addressed the crowd early during the rally, and Trump invited both to return to the stage during his speech for additional remarks. Trump introduced Ramaswamy by noting how he had briefly run against him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a nasty guy,\u201d Trump said of Ramaswamy. \u201cBut you know what? He was smart. He loves the state. He\u2019s actually got a great heart.\u201d<\/p>\n Compared with Husted, Ramaswamy was otherwise less of a focus of Trump\u2019s remarks. Trump, for example, criticized Senate Democrats who this week blocked Husted\u2019s Ratepayer Protection Act<\/a>, which aims to rein in higher utility costs associated with power-hungry data centers.<\/p>\n Republicans, Trump said, are \u201ctaking historic action to ensure that Big Tech data centers benefit local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump then made the argument for data centers, despite the fears it could be a losing issue for Husted. <\/p>\n \u201cWe want them,\u201d Trump said. \u201cLook, there\u2019s so much money to be made for Ohio. You can\u2019t just turn them off. They\u2019ll go to China.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also recited the lyrics to the 1968 Al Wilson song \u201cThe Snake\u201d \u2014 a recurring, crowd-pleasing bit in his rally speeches<\/a> \u2014 with a new, localized twist. Trump dedicated the song, which he uses as an allegory to trusting communities that welcome immigrants, to nearby Springfield, Ohio.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791068373367_wnn_jtsi_trump_midterms_rally_261003_S3_1920x1080-htnsr4.jpg\")
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