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COLUMBUS, OHIO — In case you missed it, a new NRSC memo shows that Jon Husted — “the face of data centers” — is being crushed for leading the charge to bring hundreds of massive, power-hungry facilities to Ohio that have sent electricity rates skyrocketing.

The memo states that “Ohio is one of the leaders in building these AI factories,” largely due to Husted giving billions in out-of-control tax breaks to attract massive corporations to Ohio. The memo also claims that data centers are “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”

See For Yourself: 

Fox News: Special Report with Bret Baier

• Bret Baier, Fox News: A Republican campaign group is warning toxic views of [data centers] could harm the party’s chances of holding a vital senate seat.
  
• Mark Meredith, Fox News: … will help him beat incumbent Republican Senator Jon Husted, who over the years strongly supported data center development in the state. 

• Meredith: In a memo, the National Republican Senatorial Committee writes this has become a sleeper issue for the entire election cycle. Fox polling shows Husted trailing Brown by eight points.
  

WEWS: Leaked memo about data centers shows GOP worried about Ohio’s U.S. Senate race

• Morgan Trau, WEWS: A leaked memo created by national Republican leaders shows their fears that Democrats, specifically in Ohio, are winning over voters on a very divisive issue: data centers.
  
• Trau: Brown’s ads are accurate — that Husted did help bring a slew of data centers to Ohio, which his former running mate, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, defends.
  
• Trau: After Brown’s ad started airing, Husted proposed a bill in congress to require states to require companies to pay for their own power. Brown says Husted could have put guardrails in place when he helped lead the state house.
  
• Trau: Husted didn’t respond to comment for this story and neither did the national campaign committee.

MS NOW: The Briefing with Jen Psaki

• Jen Psaki, MS NOW: Former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is mounting a strong challenge against Republican Senator Jon Husted. A recent Fox News poll found Sherrod Brown leading Husted by eight points in a head to head matchup.
  
• Psaki: Sherrod Brown is making Jon Husted the face of unpopular AI data centers in Ohio, and all across the country, I should note, people are pushing back against AI companies building big data centers in their communities.
  
• Psaki: Today, Axios actually obtained a new memo from the Senate Republicans’ campaign committee detailing how that anti data center messaging is hurting Jon Husted. And they write “more than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.” 

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Jon Husted is the face of data centers in Ohio, and Republicans nationwide fear what that means

• As lieutenant governor, Jon Husted smiled as he trumpeted data center tax breaks to Ohioans, claiming the state would become a tech hub.

• Now that Ohioans hate the energy sucking developments, Republican Sen. Husted is backing off — all while his Democratic opponent, Sherrod Brown, is calling Husted the face of data centers.

Signal Ohio: ‘The anchor around Husted’s neck’: Data centers are dominating Ohio politics

• Republicans think data centers are killing Husted’s chances

• Don’t just take it from us. Take it from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of Senate Republicans. The group issued an extraordinary memo to AI companies this week that describes the situation facing Republican Sen. Jon Husted in dire terms.

• “More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck,” states the memo, which was first reported by Axios and independently obtained by Signal Statewide.

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WLIO: ‘The group says Husted is blaming Ohioans for rising electric costs’

COLUMBUS, OHIO — In case you missed it, Lima City Councilwoman Jeannine Jordan, Shelby County farmer Chris Gibbs, and Ohioans facing skyrocketing electric bills rallied against Jon Husted for his record of bringing hundreds of data centers to Ohio while local communities were left with the bill.

Jon Husted blames Ohioans for data centers, telling listeners in a recent interview that “we are the problem.” While Husted blames families and local communities, Ohio electric bills are now projected to be over $800 for the summer — a massive increase. 

See For Yourself:

WLIO: Lima-area Democrats call for change as Ohio data center debate continues

• About a dozen area Democrats gathered Tuesday to criticize comments made by U.S. Sen. Jon Husted during a recent podcast, saying his policies on data centers are contributing to higher electric rates in Ohio.

• The group says Husted is blaming Ohioans for rising electric costs because of increased daily use of artificial intelligence, while they argue the state’s growing number of data centers is a major factor.

• There are more than 200 data centers in Ohio, according to the Democrats at the rally. They called Husted the face of Ohio’s data center expansion and criticized what they described as closed-door dealings surrounding the industry.

• Christopher Gibbs, chair of the Shelby County Democratic Party, said Husted’s record on utility rates has been a problem for Ohio.

• “Jon Husted has been a disaster on utility rates from the first energy scandal that’s cost the state billions in tax revenue, plus his giveaway to data centers that have taken away all of the opportunities for our communities, our small communities, to make good decisions and take advantage of data centers and all of the work that it provides instead of being taken advantage of. And I’m calling him out right here, right today,” said Gibbs.

• Lew Modic, a Democratic candidate for Allen County commissioner, said more transparency is needed when it comes to data center development.

• “The way we have done this has been behind closed doors and so much secrecy Nobody knows what’s in it for us as a community long term and the information is not coming out,” said Modic.

• Jeannine Jordan, the fourth Ward Lima City Council member, also criticized Husted.

• “I think it’s important that we get rid of Husted and institute government that believes that we are the solution, not the problem,” said Jordan.

Lima News: Democrat rally criticizes Husted over data centers

• With election season coming up, Allen County Democrats held a rally Tuesday against U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, in Lima’s Town Square, tying the senator to the ongoing debate in the state concerning the growth of data centers.

• “I’ve been all over the state talking to residents, talking to rural folks, and what they’re concerned about is those nondiscretionary cost of kitchen table issues, and that includes utility rates,” said Chris Gibbs. “Jon Husted has been a disaster on utility rates. His giveaway to data centers has taken away all of the opportunities for our small communities to make good decisions, and takes advantage of data centers.”

• A recent interview Husted had with Cleveland talk radio personality Bob Frantz was also brought up, and interview in which Husted said, “We just have to realize, we’re in this world in which we’ve created the demand for these data centers because we use all of these digital products that it processes, and if we don’t want them, then don’t use them. So understand, when we look in the mirror, we are the problem.”

• [Lima Councilwoman Jeannine] Jordan responded by asserting that technology is too integrated into daily life to say that one can just pull the plug and reduce demand.

• “Big corporations and tech are embedding it [AI] as part of our daily lives, we can’t opt out of it,” she said. “There’s a little bit of an abuser mentality there, a cycle that really is not fitting with what I understand with the American goals.”

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WHIO: ‘It rose so fast;’ August gas prices reach record highs in Ohio as crude oil costs climb

COLUMBUS, OHIO — New reporting shows Ohioans continue to see record gas prices — all thanks to the endless war in Iran that Jon Husted has continuously voted to support. The average price of gas has hit $4.17 in Ohio, which is up 20 cents from last week. 

Jon Husted recently voted for the thirteenth time to support the unnecessary war in the Middle East. Husted previously claimed that the war is going “much better than anyone thought it would,” and when asked about skyrocketing gas prices Ohioans are facing, Husted responded “what do you want me to do?” 

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“As Ohioans continue to face skyrocketing prices at the gas pump, Jon Husted has repeatedly voted to support the war in Iran, sending more money overseas while Ohioans pay the price. Instead of voting to lower costs at home, Husted continues to insult and lecture hardworking families on their work ethic.” 

While Husted keeps voting to make everything more expensive, he also can’t help himself from insulting hardworking Ohioans struggling because of his votes:

• Husted claimed that the military operation “went very well” while admitting the war he supported “has put a strain on Americans.”

• When asked recently if he was okay with not knowing how long the war will last or how much taxpayer dollars will be spent, Husted replied, “it’s not really up to us.”

• When asked what he was doing to address rising gas prices for his constituents, Husted responded: “What do you want me to do?” 

• When a truck driver asked about soaring diesel costs, Husted brushed him off and responded by asking if he was comfortable with Iran being a nuclear power. 

• Jon Husted has claimed that he thinks the war is “good news for the global economy” and going “much better than anyone thought it would.”

• Jon Husted continues to insult struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and consistently dismisses the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

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Husted described as the “face of data centers” in Ohio

COLUMBUS, OHIO — This week, Lima City Councilwoman Jeannine Jordan, Shelby County farmer Chris Gibbs, and Ohioans facing skyrocketing electric bills rallied against Jon Husted for his record of bringing hundreds of data centers to Ohio while local communities were left with the bill. 

Jon Husted blames Ohioans for data centers, telling listeners in a recent interview that “we are the problem.” While Husted blames families and local communities, Ohio electric bills are now projected to be over $800 for the summer — a massive increase. 

“Jon Husted is blaming you and I for using the tools modern life requires, while ignoring the fact that he helped flood the state with massive, power-hungry data centers without a coherent plan, without including citizens in the planning, without considering the costs that the people and the environment would pay,” said Lima City Councilwoman Jeannine Jordan. “We need leadership that starts with people, not with corporations. Jon Husted has shown us exactly where his priorities are, and it is not with ordinary Ohioans trying to keep the lights on.”

“We got Jon Husted, who basically has cut deals behind closed doors over the past ten years, particularly when he was lieutenant governor, bringing in things like tax breaks for data centers,” said Lew Modic, candidate for Allen County Commissioner. “As taxpayers, the two and a half billion dollars we’ve given away in opportunity for sales tax to bring data centers into the state is more money than probably every resident of our county would make in the next 100 years. That’s the kind of deal that we are getting cut with leadership from the appointed Senator Jon Husted.”

“We hear Jon Husted being described as the face of data centers all across Ohio. When it comes to energy-hungry data centers, Husted rolled out the red carpet for these billionaire-controlled outfits, offering them 2.5 billion dollars in state-level property tax exemptions. He fast-tracked the approvals, and that’s where we find ourselves today,” said Chris Gibbs, a farmer in Shelby County. “Just in my case alone, AES has jacked rates 26% in the past 12 months, and over the past 24 months, my rates on those accounts have increased 37%”

Read more about how Jon Husted led the charge to bring data centers to Ohio: 

• Jon Husted played such a large role in bringing data centers to Ohio, the editor of Cleveland.com referred to Husted as “the face of data centers.”

• When he was Lt. Governor, Husted led the charge to give billions in out-of-control tax breaks to out-of-state corporations building data centers in Ohio. 

• Because of Husted’s efforts, Ohioans have seen their utility bills skyrocket, with Ohio seeing the second largest utility rate increase in the country over the last year.

• According to the Plain Dealer, Husted was “a data center’s best friend” and “spent years rolling out the red carpet” for these massive corporations to come to Ohio. 

• Now, three months away from an election, Husted is “suddenly positioning himself as the guy who’s going to rein them in.”

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NRSC MEMO: ‘More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.’

COLUMBUS, OHIO — A new NRSC memo out today shows that Jon Husted — “the face of data centers”— is being crushed for leading the charge to bring hundreds of massive, power-hungry facilities to Ohio that have sent electricity rates skyrocketing.

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“After leading the charge to bring hundreds of data centers to Ohio, Jon Husted is now being crushed by his toxic record that has sent electricity rates soaring for families. Now Husted is begging the industry to come and bail him out, but it won’t work — and Ohioans will hold him accountable for jacking up their utility bills in November.”

Read more about how Jon Husted led the charge to bring data centers to Ohio: 

• Jon Husted played such a large role in bringing data centers to Ohio, the editor of the Plain Dealer referred to Husted as “the face of data centers.”

• When he was Lt. Governor, Husted led the charge to give billions in out-of-control tax breaks to out-of-state corporations building data centers in Ohio.

• Because of Husted’s efforts, Ohioans have seen their utility bills skyrocket, with Ohio seeing the second largest utility rate increase in the country over the last year.

• According to the Plain Dealer, Husted was “a data center’s best friend” and “spent years rolling out the red carpet” for these massive corporations to come to Ohio.

• Now, three months away from an election, Husted is “suddenly positioning himself as the guy who’s going to rein them in.”

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