COLOMBUS, Ohio (AP) — John Husted looks when Vivek Lamaswamy burns a crowd in Ohio’s standing room only and argues why he should be the next governor. It’s a speech that was held just a few months ago I was hoping for it Give it to yourself.
However, Husted’s political path took a sudden turn in January. Gov. Mike DeWine has appointed him to the US Senate seat, which was left by Vice President J.D. Vance. In just a few days, the longtime lieutenant governor traveled to a US Senate seat from a modest state office.
Now, Republicans, who led his own general election campaign in 2014, appeared as lieutenant governor in statewide votes, hopes to defend Senate seats in races with national influence. Democrats recruited a former senator. Sherrod BrownOhio’s most famous Democrat, soon becomes a competitive contest. Brown is in it Candidate He hopes Democrats will win Senate positions next year, despite the 2026 map becoming more difficult to seize a majority.
Husted bets that his personal story, his long history in office and his partnership with President Donald Trump will help him continue his Republican winning streak in Ohio. That could be even tougher without Trump.
“We have a Republican who is winning in Ohio,” Husted told supporters at an event where he and Lamaswamy supported each other. “But there is no guarantee.”
From football players across the US to the US Senate
Born just outside of Detroit, Husted spent the first few months of his life in a foster home. He then said, “The biggest thing that can happen to me in my life: I was adopted by my mother and father.”
He grew up in rural Ohio and played football at Dayton University, where he became a national cornerback. He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in his early 30s, and later served as Speaker of the House, State Senator and Secretary of State.
Husted became DeWine’s running mate in 2018 after failing to bid his own governor. They were meant to easily win reelection in 2022 and run to replace the term-limited dewine before the presidential election scrambled his plans.
On January 17, DeWine announced that Husted would fill Vance’s seat. I encouraged Consider taking a seat. Husted said he hadn’t had a detailed conversation with DeWine, but the governor believes that “everyone trusted me to do a good job.”
Husted serves in the 53-47 Republican-controlled Senate, the most controversial in recent history. Republicans’ Most Important legislative victory So far, they have given Trump a sweeping spending and tax cut package. Like many Republicans, Husted touts it as a working class tax cut. Democrats criticize it for cutting healthcare funds.
US Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will speak at a campaign rally in Cincinnati on October 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
Back in Ohio during a Congressional break, Husted repeatedly insisted that no Ohioan would lose Medicaid compensation as a result of the law. However, the Congressional Budget Bureau project Over 10 million people will be uninsured by 2034 nationwide.
Low profile current position
After a cross-enderment event in Columbus, Ramaswamy runs out of the room, passing by a swarm of screaming reporters, remaining in the crowd before asking questions. It’s a glimpse of their contrasting styles and a reflection of their race. Many Republicans in the crowd predict that Ramaswamy will win on the landslide, but Husted is ready for a tough battle.
Brown is widely expected to secure his party nomination and is considered one of the democratic recruits in the country in this cycle. He spent 32 years in Congress, including 18 in the Senate, before losing his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno last year by over 3.5 percent.
but Moreno’s victory The Trump at the top of the ticket (the Trump that carried over 11 points over Ohio) has arrived. Without him, and with the midterm elections historically supporting a party that is not the White House, Democrats believe Brown has a viable path back.
Democrats let it know they hust Still unresolved tie What is said to be the biggest Corruption scheme State history becomes a campaign issue. Husted has not been accused of fraud.
The 2026 contest is expected to be extremely expensive. In 2024, Moreno and Brown races were the most expensive of the cycle, with total spending of $500 million. In the cryptocurrency industry alone, he spent over $40 million to defeat Brown, who chaired the Senate Banking Committee.
In its latest submission in July, Husted had raised just over $3 million in the Senate race so far, with $2.6 million in cash in hand. Brown officially began bidding in August, and announced that his team had raised $3.6 million in its first 24 hours of the race.
Ohio GOP Chair Alex Triantilfilow said Husted is one of the state’s best fundraising candidates and “expects him to have the resources he needs to win the race.”
Can Democrats still compete in Ohio?
Like Ohio, so did the people for over half a century.
But in 2016, Trump won it after former President Barack Obama carried Ohio both in the presidential campaign. He won the state in 2024 and 2020.
Republican US Senator John influenced Senate candidates in 2026, and 2026 Ohio Governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was portrayed at the event that approved Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, September 22, 2025.
Currently, the GOP manages both the state legislative room, the Governor’s Office and the US Senate seats.
Whether Brown can regain his seat in 2026 can serve as a key barometer of his ability to reunite with Democratic unions, and blue-collar voters are known in Ohio – block This helped Trump wipe out the so-called Rust Belt battlefields in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2024.
So far, union support has split in Ohio’s top race. The Ohio State University Association, the Pipe Fitter Association and the Central Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters are in favor of both Lamaswamy and Brown. The state’s Teamster Union has approved Ramaswamy for the governor, but has yet to weigh it in the Senate contest.
The joint recognition event in Columbus was a celebration, in front of cheerful crowds wearing “Vivek for Ohio” stickers and harboring signs of “Jon Husted for Shenate.” But Ohio Republicans know how close the margins are and how easily the momentum changes.
Even if he wins, Husted will need to secure another six-year term in 2028. He shrugged the challenge and smiled at the Associated Press: “I’ve done much tougher things in my life than that.”
