Sherrod Brown defeats Jon Husted in Ohio Senate race

Democrat Sherrod Brown has won a return to the U.S. Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Jon Husted in an expensive Ohio contest two years after losing his own seat. The Associated Press called the race for Brown, while NBC News and CBS News projected his victory.

The result flips a seat for Democrats as they seek control of the Senate. Brown, 73, will serve the remainder of the term JD Vance won in 2022 before leaving to become vice president. The term runs until January 2029, according to Al Jazeera. Brown will then have to decide whether to seek another term.

Brown served three Senate terms before losing his 2024 reelection bid to Republican Bernie Moreno. His return is rare: NPR reported that he is the seventh former senator since 1946 to lose a seat and later return to the chamber. President Donald Trump has won Ohio in the past three presidential elections, but Brown’s name recognition helped keep the race close, NPR reported.

Husted, 59, was running for the Senate for the first time. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appointed the former lieutenant governor to Vance’s seat. Husted had also served as Ohio House speaker and secretary of state. Republicans portrayed Brown’s long record in public office as a liability, arguing that he had little to show for it.

The cost of living, the war with Iran and health care costs figured prominently in the campaign. Brown criticized Trump’s tariffs and the war while seeking to tie Husted to the president’s policies. He also attacked Husted over his support for AI data center development as lieutenant governor, calling him “the face of data centers” in Ohio. Concerns about electricity costs sharpened the issue.

Weeks before the election, Husted sought Senate passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act, The Guardian reported. The measure would have required utilities to consider rules making data centers cover costs tied to their impact on the electric grid. It had passed the House with near-unanimous support, but Senate Democrats blocked it. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called the bill “toothless,” a criticism Brown echoed.

Both campaigns drew prominent allies. Brown appeared at an October rally led by former President Barack Obama. Trump rallied with Husted in Ohio and praised his athleticism. At an August Republican picnic, Husted acknowledged that Washington was not his preferred place to be. “I’m, like, an Ohio guy. D.C. is not my place,” he said, adding that Ohio needed a senator who knew the state and would fight for it.

The contest drew enormous spending. NPR reported that the candidates together raised more than $80 million and that they and outside groups had spent more than $422 million by mid-October. Al Jazeera, citing The Hill, reported that advertising spending exceeded $500 million. Brown’s victory gives Democrats a pickup, but does not by itself determine control of the Senate.