GOP senator unloads on 'creature of Washington' challenger in critical Senate showdown

MARYSVILLE, OH - The Ohio Senate race could very well decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in November and incumbent Republican Jon Husted is making the case that the reasons his Democratic opponent was voted out of office two years ago are still relevant today.

"He’s spent 32 years in Washington and he's got nothing to show for it, the voters over here in Ohio know it," Husted told Fox News Digital at the annual Summer Farm Fest on Sunday when asked about his race against former Dem. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

"That's why they sent him packing two years ago. He was defeated by Bernie Moreno by over 200,000 votes. This is all he's done. He's been in an elected office since 1974. He hasn't done anything in the private sector. He's just been a creature of Washington and I think the voters finally are tired of it. That's why they sent him packing. I don't think they're gonna have any enthusiasm for rehiring him for a job that he failed at."

After representing Ohio in the Senate for almost two decades after years of serving in the House of Representatives, Brown was defeated by Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024 in a blistering campaign that was one of the most expensive in U.S. history. Moreno consistently tied Brown to the unpopular positions of then-President Joe Biden, and Husted told Fox News Digital those concerns still exist, particularly on immigration.

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"We had basically an invasion of 11 million people," Husted said. "He supported amnesty for them. He supported Social Security payments for illegals, healthcare for illegals, COVID checks for illegals. The sanctuary cities he supported led to crime, fentanyl, human trafficking in our state, and it's been terrible and the voters know this."

"They know that he failed them. They know when he goes off to Washington with his comrades that he votes like a liberal, that he's too liberal for Ohio, that he has a track record of voting with Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, and that's out of step with where Ohio is."

Over the last few weeks, Brown has blanketed the airwaves with ads criticizing Husted on data centers, a hot-button issue in Ohio, arguing that Husted’s support of data centers over the years has resulted in higher energy prices for consumers.

Husted, who was appointed to the Senate in January 2025 after the departure of now-Vice President JD Vance, pushed back on that assertion when asked about the ads.

"He had 32 years in Congress , he did nothing about it, and I, in my, just briefly over a year there, have legislation to require data centers to build their own power, to pay their own way, and to give the benefits of their presence to the citizens of those local communities, rather than the way that Sherrod Brown has done it, where he's failed," Husted explained.

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Husted continued, "This is the problem with the guy, is that he does nothing, and then a problem comes out, and he says, blame that person… He didn't do anything about it. He never does anything about it. He just waits for problems to happen. And then he says, well, it's the other person's fault. It's time to hold him accountable."

Husted made the case that the policies Brown supported in Congress led to the high energy rates the country is seeing now.

"He spent 32 years in Washington and didn't do anything except raise our electricity prices because he and the radical climate change agenda shut 23 power plants in Ohio," Husted said. "If we had those 23 power plants today, we wouldn't have high energy prices."

Husted continued, "Him voting for Obamacare, which has doubled the price of health care insurance in the state of Ohio and around the country. He needs to be held to account for his failed policies."

While Ohio has been historically known as a bellwether swing state, President Donald Trump won the state convincingly in 2016, 2020, and 2024, shifting the Buckeye State to a reliably red stronghold. However, recent polling, including a Fox News poll in June , shows Husted trailing Brown as Republicans battle the historical headwinds of the party in power struggling in midterm elections.

Brown, recruited back into politics in part by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer , is looking to flip one of the four seats Democrats need to regain control of the Senate, with Ohio among the party's top pickup opportunities alongside Alaska, Maine and North Carolina.

With less than 100 days to go until the midterms, Husted says that Brown’s record will be front and center.

"Just showing the contrast between 32 years of failure from Sherrod Brown and the fact that I'm an Ohio guy, I've fought for Ohioans, I've helped in state government to turn this state in the right direction," Husted said. "We now have more jobs than we've ever had in our state's history, the lowest unemployment rate, frankly, than we ever had in our states' history. And we don't need to send this guy back to Washington, Sherrod Brown, to continue the failed policies that have harmed the country and harmed our state. We need a guy like me who will fight for Ohio."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Brown campaign for comment.

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