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COLUMBUS, OH – The contrast between the candidates for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District could not be more clear as Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur demands that data centers be held accountable as they drain power resources and cause utility bills to skyrocket, while Republican Derek Merrin has voted in the statehouse to give data centers massive tax breaks. Now Merrin is refusing to comment when asked about his positions.

“While Ohioans continue to voice their concern about how data centers are hurting communities and forcing families to foot the bill for skyrocketing utility costs, Derek Merrin’s refusal to comment when asked about data centers is speaking volumes,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “Ohioans want a leader who will lower their costs and hold data centers accountable – with his long record of voting for tax breaks for data centers and accepting donations from the very utility companies that are jacking up Ohioans’ energy bills, Derek Merrin is showing every day why Ohioans need Marcy Kaptur fighting for them in Congress.”

This is not the first time that Derek Merrin has refused to comment on data centers, after he voted in the statehouse to give data centers tax breaks. Merrin has also received campaign donations from AEP and other utility special interest groups.

Read more about the contrast between Marcy Kaptur’s resolve to make data centers pay their fair share and Derek Merrin’s refusal to comment:

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio’s 9th Congressional district race: The candidates’ records on data centers

• The race for Ohio’s 9th U.S. Congressional district is one of the state’s most closely contested, and the candidates have contrasting records and positions when it comes to data center development.
• Derek Merrin, the Republican nominee and former state representative who is facing long-time Ohio Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the November election, voted for Ohio’s data center tax breaks when he was an Ohio state representative in 2017. Kaptur has spoken out against data centers for draining power and water from local communities, saying the companies should pay for that, not the citizens.
• Merrin, who served four terms as an Ohio state representative for the Toledo district from 2016 to 2024, did not respond to the Ohio Capital Journal’s questions for this story.
• Merrin received a $1,000 political donation from the American Electric Power Ohio Committee for Responsible Government in 2021. AEP had received more than $6 million in data center tax breaks in Ohio as of September 2024, according to Policy Matters Ohio. 
• Merrin received a $500 political donation from Windstream Holdings’ PAC in 2022. That same year, Windstream Holdings listed eight “key data center locations” in Ohio. 
• Kaptur raised concerns over data centers at the end of last year.
• “How much more will our citizens be forced to pay for power and water?” Kaptur asked, speaking on the U.S. House floor. 
• “They have a right to know. Will our building trades be true partners in economic growth or just temporary labor while facing higher utility bills at home? And how many permanent jobs will these largely opaque facilities actually provide? … The American people deserve to know how AI data centers will affect their communities.”

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Columbus Dispatch: As energy prices soar, Ohio utility scandal gets new life on campaign trail

COLUMBUS, OHIO — New reporting from the Columbus Dispatch reveals that Jon Husted continues to remain at the center of the FirstEnergy bribery scheme, the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history. 

Previous reporting has already uncovered phone calls, text messages, and secret meetings between Husted and the indicted FirstEnergy executives, and Husted was forced to testify for the defense in a state criminal trial — where he was mentioned 386 times.

The massive FirstEnergy bribery scheme that Jon Husted championed delivered a billion dollar bailout to utilities and contributed to electricity costs for Ohioans increasing by $663 a year. 

READ MORE: 

Columbus Dispatch: As energy prices soar, Ohio utility scandal gets new life on campaign trail

• As Ohioans face soaring utility costs, candidates for U.S. Senate are jockeying over who’s to blame − and Democrats hope to turn voters’ attention to the biggest corruption scandal in state history.

• Husted was a key ally for Akron-based FirstEnergy, which spent more than $60 million to aid former House Speaker Larry Householder in exchange for a nuclear bailout known as House Bill 6. The pay-to-pay scandal upended state government and sent Householder and former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges to prison.

• Still, Brown and other Democrats are eager to highlight the ordeal, including Husted’s recent testimony in the trial of two former FirstEnergy executives accused of bribery.

• Husted has a decades-long history with FirstEnergy.

• Husted backed pro-utility policies during his tenure as Ohio House speaker. When he ran for governor in 2017, FirstEnergy gave $1 million through a dark money group to support his bid. The utility spent another $2.5 million to help the DeWine campaign after Husted dropped out and became DeWine’s running mate.

• Husted’s relationship with FirstEnergy got renewed attention earlier this year when he testified in the trial of former CEO Chuck Jones and ex-lobbyist Michael Dowling.

• The former executives are accused of bribing Ohio’s former top utility regulator, Sam Randazzo. A Summit County jury couldn’t reach a verdict during their first trial, but Jones and Dowling were indicted again and face another trial in January 2027.

• During a March hearing, Husted fielded questions about DeWine’s decision to appoint Randazzo and a December 2018 dinner he attended with DeWine, Jones and Dowling. Prosecutors contend Jones and Dowling urged DeWine to pick Randazzo during that meeting and paid Randazzo a $4.3 million bribe shortly after. Husted said he couldn’t recall specifics.

• “Jon Husted was at the center of this,” [Senator Sherrod] Brown told the statehouse bureau. “Of course he’ll make excuses.”

• House Bill 6 imposed monthly fees on utility customers to raise money for FirstEnergy’s nuclear plants, along with solar projects and coal plants in Ohio and Indiana. It also slashed renewable energy mandates and energy efficiency incentives.

• Ohioans paid an average of $188.84 for electricity in July, according to PUCO, up from $168.98 the year prior. That amount was $114.90 in July 2019, months before House Bill 6 took effect. The biggest jump occurred between 2022 and 2023, when electric bills spiked 30%.

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