Dem
47
GOP
53
The Ohio Senate race is an oddity. Incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) is barely known in Ohio, while challenger Sherrod Brown is universally known in the state. Also, the race is technically a special election for the last 2 years of J.D. Vance's term and the winner will need to run again in a regular election in 2028. Since Husted is not well known, Brown's first ad since he won the Democratic primary on Tuesday tries to define Husted before Husted can. It is a dilly. You can watch it here.
If you can read faster than you can watch, here is the text:
Of all 535 members of Congress, who's taken the most money from associates of Jeffrey Epstein? Jon Husted. That's who. In fact, Husted's taken over $116,000 from one of Epstein's closest friends and co-conspirators, and last year took a maximum donation from him just weeks before voting to block the release of the Epstein files. Jon Husted, who's he really working for? I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve this message.
The ad isn't on YouTube (yet) but this one is:
In this ad, Brown speaks directly to the camera and mentions a "list" that singles out Husted as one of the three most corrupt senators. The source of the list is not mentioned, but Husted making the list probably refers to the Ohio scandal in which the local electricity company spent $60 million on bribes to get the state legislature to raise electricity rates—and Husted was deeply involved in it when he was lieutenant governor.
Democrats like a fighter and boy, is Brown going to fight. If Brown's campaign is all about how corrupt Husted is and how he takes money from Epstein's buddies, that is a brilliant strategy. It makes the conversation about Husted's corruption—and even Republican voters hate corrupt politicians—and not about trans girls in sports. Even in deep red Ohio, that might work for Brown. He can disassociate himself from national Democrats and just pound Husted being corrupt, especially with the re-trial of the corrupt electricity company executives going on in October. In fact, the thing Husted is already best known for in Ohio is his role in the first trial, of the corrupt executives, which ended in a hung jury.
This could end up being the most expensive Senate race in the country this year, especially if the NRSC comes to realize that Michael Whatley is no match for former governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina and just leaves him to twist in the wind. The Republicans' Senate Leadership Fund has already earmarked $79 million for television, digital, direct mail, and GOTV (Get Out The Vote). The Democrats' Senate Majority PAC has reserved $40 million just for television.
Brown's biggest disadvantage is his age (73). Husted is 58. Democrats want younger leaders, but if Brown is feisty and aggressive, younger Democrats might forgive him for having been born early in the Eisenhower administration. One peculiarity about Brown is that he got college backwards. It is common for students to go to the local state university and then if they are really good, go to an Ivy League school for graduate study. Brown did it backwards. He was an undergraduate at Yale, majoring in Russian studies. Then he got masters in education at Ohio State and then a second masters at Ohio State (in public administration). Brown is married to Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning progressive journalist and now professor of journalism at Denison University in Ohio. If Husted treats her like the great-great-granddaughter of Karl Marx, he will get quite an earful in return. (V)