Last week, Chuck Schumer flew to Ohio in a not-so-subtle effort to recruit Sherrod Brown to run for the US Senate in 2026. The dinner meeting was caught on camera…
…leading to a national story, and a whole lot of people from beyond Ohio asking who the heck The Rooster is.
But these same people should also be asking, more and more intensely, who the sitting GOP Senator is. The one who was appointed to replace JD Vance.
His name is Jon Husted, he is a deeply tainted and untested candidate, and as Schumer’s visit highlights, he could end up playing a pivotal role in the Senate map next in 2026.
Here’s why:
The Big Ugly Budget Bill
Husted is in overdrive touting the budget bill that polls show is deeply underwater. And few states will be hit harder by its worst elements than Ohio.
I’ve listened to Husted mislead voters into thinking this bill won’t increase the deficit (he says he doesn’t believe the CBO projections) or lead to Medicaid or risk Medicare cuts. Few Senators risk their next election more from this budget vote than Husted—lying about its effects will only make it worse
NIH Cuts
Communities and universities across Ohio will pay an enormous price from the ongoing attack on NIH funding and the NIH funding process. Those cuts threaten jobs, research and the well-being of some of Ohio’s most prized institutions, including our biotech hubs.
Economy and Jobs
More broadly, before becoming Senator, Husted was Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor. He spent virtually every day grandstanding and taking credit for economic progress that came largely due to the Biden recovery. But the truth is, Ohio’s economy has been anemic under Husted’s watch and policies, and that is only becoming more clear now that Trump’s in charge.
Ohio ranks 45th in recent GDP growth—all in a period where Husted was in charge of our economic development work.
We are 45th in unemployment.
And that is all BEFORE some of the most recent, bleak economic news:
Worst of all, the biggest project Husted grandstanded on—Intel—continues to be delayed, and the Ohio AG says that the state funds handed to the project are unlikely to be clawed back.
When Jon Husted has spent the last 8 years touting his economic development work as his great strength, this is a horrible record to have to defend.
Scandals
But if you think all that is bad, we’re just getting started.
You see, in many ways, the Senate appointment provided a great escape for Husted. Because if you watch HBO, you know that Ohio is awash in corruption. Arguably the two biggest scandals in Ohio history happened in the last ten years.
One was an education scandal—a for-profit school turning out to be an enormous scam, taking hundreds of millions of public dollars while delivering disastrous education outcomes for kids.
The other is the First Energy scandal, a wide-ranging scandal that led to 2 suicides, years of investigations, long jail sentences for key GOP figures, indictments of corporate executives for bribery, and that HBO documentary I mentioned above.
And who is a central figure in the events of both those scandals?
You guessed it…new Senator Jon Husted.
The ECOT Disaster
In the education scandal, the scam school (ECOT) literally bestowed Husted with their first honorary degree, announcing that their operation would never have been possible without his help.
You see, among other things Husted did while he and others raised tons from the school’s founder, he ignored warnings about the risks of these for-profit schools and eliminated the oversight that might’ve stopped the scam far earlier.
Husted also has been a long-time champion of the universal voucher disaster that is undermining public education in Ohio. The result of all he’s done is a roiling disaster. In 2010, we were 5th in the nation in public ed. Now we are in the mid-20s.
And amid all this failure, when independent oversight of what’s happening is needed most, Husted even played a key role in eliminating most of the power of the independent state school board in recent years. Polls show that this undemocratic move is toxic with voters.
First Energy Scandal
So that’s scandal number 1.
Scandal number 2 is the First Energy scandal. The original sin in that scandal was the appointment and bribery of an insider lobbyist (who since has committed suicide) to lead the regulatory body over utilities (called PUCO) in the state.
Here, too, Husted played a central role. I’ve detailed it at length elsewhere, but Husted was at key meetings and clearly in constant contact with First Energy officials (now being prosecuted for bribery) throughout the tainted appointment that led to most of what followed.
There are even notes, in the hand of since indicted executives as they met with Husted, making clear that he was in on insider details:
And the indictment spells out how he performed “battlefield triage” to make the appointment happen:
When you read all the indictments (which I have), it feels like Husted was playing the role of First Energy lobbyist more than public official.
So this is scandal number 2, and Husted still claims to have fuzzy memory about all of it.
By the way, who is currently pursuing the prosecution of these First Energy officials (the ones who met w Husted)?
The DOJ, under Pam Bondi.
Wouldn’t you think those First Energy execs would be tempted to fess up to all they know in exchange for a deal with the feds?
Gives one heck of a reason for Husted to be on Trump’s good side, doesn’t it?!
But Haven’t the Voters Weighed In? No!
Either way, here you have a guy with a terrible record of failed outcomes, active involvement in the events leading to two of Ohio’s biggest scandals, set to vote for a bill that’s deeply toxic and will do great damage across the state, with a major incentive to always go along with an unhinged president.
Now I know what you’re thinking?
If he’s in office, doesn’t that mean the voters don’t care about this stuff?
The answer is, No.
Husted has never faced an election where all these facts were on the table, or prosecuted with any type of vigor. While much of his dirty work on schools and that school scandal were known in 2018, he quit his run for Governor early and ran as LG, which meant he never had to answer for them.
His First Energy handiwork came after that election, and he was largely not a focus in the Governor’s re-elect in 2022.
Bottom line: Husted has never had to answer for any of this stuff. Nor have voters been presented with these facts at any scale or intensity.
A Senate race where $100Ms could be spent exposing his roles in these scandals, the destruction of Ohio’s once great system of education, his failed economic policies, and the terrible votes he will be casting as a US Senator who can not bring himself to disagree with Trump, is something he has never faced.
Husted’s appointment to replace Vance in the Senate may have bought him some time to escape this scrutiny, but a big-time Senate campaign in 2026 offers the opportunity to hold Husted accountable for all this damage to Ohio.
And to put it nicely, this is not a very nimble, swift or charismatic candidate. When pressed (which has happened far too rarely), he tends to get defensive and angry—spewing weak rhetoric or outright lies—and it’s not an impressive site.
So I’m glad to see Senator Schumer focusing on Ohio. Taking on this deeply tainted candidate is a golden opportunity.
Not to mention, this is a must-win race if Democrats are going to take back the Senate.
I’m counting on Sherrod to run. It’s a big ask but the time is dark.
From what I've read/heard, all signs point to Sherrod running for Governor, not Senate. Which still might give the eventual senate candidate some coattails to ride. But in order to ride them, that candidate will still need to make an aggressive statewide effort of his/her own: a full, statewide media push backed by the funding that such an effort requires. Not sure if the rumored Senate candidates - some state legislators and Congresspeople - fully comprehend what that entails. Running upballot requires a different skill set than running for a local office: fundraising and organization becomes much more important than retail politics and working a crowd. The candidates who get that often find statewide success; the candidates who don't usually top out around 40%.