WHAT OHIOANS ARE WATCHING: Jon Husted Begs For Billionaires And Corporations To Bail Out Failing Campaign

August 21, 2026

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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