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Columbus, Ohio- Ahead of the start of Black History Month, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters and Vice-Chair André Washington released the following statement.

“Tomorrow, we mark the start of Black History Month, a time to reflect on the contributions that Black Americans have made to Ohio and our country.

This year, the challenges we face feel greater than ever. In the past hours alone, the new administration has continued with their discriminatory attacks on Black History Month within our federal agencies.  

Republicans in Washington and at all levels of government want to erase our history rather than learn from it. Ohio Democrats will always fight attempts to divide us and erase the contributions that Black Americans have made to our country. But it’s not enough to just fight back. This month and every month, we’re more committed than ever to breaking down systemic barriers and building an Ohio that works for all of us.”

Columbus, Ohio- Following the White House’s announcement that all federal grants not delivered directly to individuals would freeze, Ohioans are left wondering if they’ll be able to access medicaid benefits, receive meals from the meals on wheels program, and more. Ohioans don’t know if they can afford their next medical appointment, if they can count on their next meal, or where their senators are. Instead of doing their job and advocating for Ohioans in Washington, Senators Husted and Moreno have gone radio silent.

Over a quarter of Ohioans rely on Medicaid for accessible and affordable healthcare, including more than half of children. Now, portals are down across the country and patients don’t know if they’ll be forced to pay sky-high bills for critical healthcare. As the White House refuses to promise not to cut Medicaid entirely, Senators Husted and Moreno’s absence speaks volumes. 

“It’s clear that Senators Husted and Moreno either don’t have a problem with cutting off healthcare access for millions of Ohioans or they’re too weak to stop it. Either way, Ohioans deserve better,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans deserve immediate answers from their Senator Husted and Senator Moreno about exactly how and when they’ll have critical access to food and medical care ripped away.”

Columbus, Ohio- Despite John Husted’s quarter of a century political career, Ohioans stand to learn far more about Husted’s long-standing history of corruption and involvement in the biggest scandal in Ohio history.

Just hours before Husted was officially announced as Ohio’s newest senator, two former FirstEnergy executives were indicted on federal charges for their role in the HB6 scandal that left Ohioans on the hook for the bill. They have both previously been indicted on state charges, where they sought both DeWine and Husted as witnesses.

Husted has a long history with both Dowling and Jones. In text messages discussing House Bill 6, Jones said that Husted “has always been accessible and great to work with” and that “without question, he is a good friend of FirstEnergy.” Husted also has a long friendship with Dowling. When Husted dropped out of the 2017 gubernatorial primary, he texted Dowling, saying “I admire you and value your friendship.”

“John Husted starting his campaign for election to the U.S. Senate as two of his close friends got indicted on federal charges probably wasn’t the start he was hoping for,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “As the face of corruption in Ohio, Husted will be dogged by this scandal for the entirety of the next two years, and Ohio Democrats are going to make sure voters know about the corruption that he has directly participated in & allowed to flourish as he hits the campaign trail.”

READ MORE about the latest indictments that Husted is hoping won’t haunt him on the campaign trail: Former FirstEnergy executives face federal charges in massive bribery scheme

• “Two former FirstEnergy executives were indicted in connection with a massive statewide bribery scandal that put one of Ohio’s most powerful politicians in federal prison…”

• “The Akron-based company previously pleaded guilty to bribing former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo − two public officials in powerful positions to help the company…”

• “The indictment paints a picture of how FirstEnergy executives used money and influence to their own advantage at the Ohio Statehouse. After House Bill 6 passed, Jones sent a photoshopped version of Mount Rushmore, featuring Randazzo’s and others’ faces on it. The caption read: “HB 6 F*** ANYBODY WHO AINT US…”

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Columbus, OH- In a late night Senate vote, Ohio Senators Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno both voted to confirm Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense. Throughout the confirmation process, Hegeseth has been trailed by an ever-growing list of disturbing allegations, but Husted & Moreno would rather prioritize blind obedience to a president who doesn’t care about Ohioans than do their job. 

Despite these allegations, Ohio’s newest Senator Jon Husted said in an interview that it’s time to get Trump’s cabinet nominees “confirmed and move on.” His vote proves that like Moreno, he’s more interested in doing favors for Donald Trump than actually representing Ohioans.

Bernie Moreno even called him “exactly the type of leader we need at the Pentagon.” When asked about his support after learning of the allegations against Hegseth, Moreno said “we don’t live in a country where allegations mean anything more than gossip,”

“Husted & Moreno’s vote to confirm Hegseth despite a long series of disturbing sexual assault allegations reveals two senators dangerously uninterested in doing their job,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans expect their elected officials to be more than button pushers for Donald Trump and will hold them accountable at the polls.”

Read more on Hegseth’ s dangerous and disturbing record of misconduct that Husted & Moreno didn’t think was disqualifying:

• NBC News: Unredacted affidavit contains previously unreported allegation about Pete Hegseth’s behavior toward second wife

• The New Yorker: Pete Hegseth’s Secret History

• CNN: Pete Hegseth: Police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee

• New York Times: Pete Hegseth’s Mother Accused Her Son of Mistreating Women for Years 

• New York Times: Police Report Offers Graphic Details of Sexual Assault Claim Against Hegseth 

• CBS: Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for defense secretary, paid accuser to save job at Fox News, his lawyer says

• AP: Pete Hegseth paid woman after sex assault allegation but denies wrongdoing, lawyer says

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Columbus, Ohio-  In case you missed it, this past week the Ohio Capitol Journal spotlighted Senator Jon Husted’s work “fighting to the end” to pass HB6 in the biggest public corruption scandal in state history. Husted may have run to Washington in the wake of new charges for his FirstEnergy executive friends, but Democrats will continue to remind Ohioans that he only works for wealthy lobbyists.

“Ohioans are still paying the price for Husted’s corruption, and instead of accountability, he just got a promotion,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohio Democrats will work to make sure in 2026, voters don’t forget how Husted sold out to the highest bidder.

READ MORE: Ohio’s new U.S. Senator Jon Husted has a history of connections to energy and charter scandals

• [DeWine & Husted] insist, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, that they knew nothing about anything corrupt in the legislation written by and for FirstEnergy that they were instrumental in passing and signing into law. […] But […] DeWine, and especially Husted, had their fingerprints all over the dodgy FirstEnergy legislation while it was being created and passed through the legislature to benefit the utility and Republican sugar daddy. Like many Ohio Republicans, DeWine and Husted had lengthy relationships and intricate business dealings over the years with the head honchos at FirstEnergy. 

• Their coziness with ex-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones and Senior VP Mike Dowling appeared to reach its peak in 2019 with passage of House Bill 6 to prop up the utility’s two aging and uncompetitive nuclear power plants in Ohio. So when federal prosecutors announced that Jones and Dowling — at the center of a $60 million bribery plot to buy off state officials for a $1.2 billion bailout — had been slapped with federal racketeering charges, the top state officials who made that bailout happen must have squirmed. 

• Their political patrons, already facing related charges on the state level, could well implicate the gov and his Senate-appointee in the developing federal cases. No wonder Husted is hightailing it out of Ohio before the boom lowers. But the senator-to-be, who has managed to skate around his deep entanglements in some of the state’s biggest scandals […] may not be able to slide so deftly around his role as a pivotal player in the FirstEnergy scandal. 

• Publicly released court records suggest Husted, in close contact with FirstEnergy execs, was leading the behind-the-scenes efforts to push the tainted HB6 through the legislature and onto the governor desk ASAP. Detailed evidence contains a slew of FirstEnergy texts referencing “State Official 2,” confirmed as Husted, that show how involved the LG was in not only lobbying for arguably the most corrupt piece of state energy legislation ever, but for making the nuclear bailout bill even beefier by extending the FirstEnergy payouts in the legislation a few extra years.   

• Although Husted had to trim his sails on that front, FirstEnergy leaders chortled in text messages that the LG was in their corner “fighting to the end” to give the company everything it wanted and more. Who cared if Ohio ratepayers were on the hook for hundreds of millions in new monthly surcharges on their electricity bills? Husted wasn’t working for them. He was helping FirstEnergy boost its profit margin in an unprecedented bribery and money laundering fraud perpetrated on everyday Ohioans.

• Of course, Husted defaults to denial about any knowledge of the corruption that permeated FirstEnergy’s bid for bloated state subsidies from the very beginning. It’s a dance he and DeWine do whenever pervasive state scandal threatens to puncture the governor’s folksy persona or the LG’s image as the telegenic GOP Golden Boy who checks off every box that matters to deep-pocketed powerbrokers lining up to make a killing on custom-made government policy. 

• As Husted heads to Washington he takes a political skills set honed in shameless service to: an unscrupulous utility that tried to buy a gravy train ticket from the state with secretly-funded legislation, to a crooked for-profit charter that bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars, to a billion-dollar voucher boondoggle funding private religious schools in a scandal waiting to explode, to the fossil fuel industry’s anti-wind and anti-solar propaganda machine after publicly supporting renewable energy. 

• Husted will fit right in with the Republican Senate majority carrying water for the highest bidder waving a campaign check, capitulating to the tyrant trashing the Constitution with impunity, and brushing aside telling stains of gathering malfeasance with “no comment.”

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