Tuesday's primary in Ohio set up two marquee matchups in November, a US Senate race that will help determine control of the chamber and a governor's race featuring a former presidential candidate and the state's COVID-19-era health director. The Senate campaign is on track to be among the most expensive this year as Republicans try to hold on to their majority during a difficult midterm cycle. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown easily defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary and will now attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted, the AP reports.
Democrats are counting on Brown's previous popularity with voters to flip the seat. The Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC, has pledged $79 million to defend Husted. "Ohioans are fed up with the corruption and greed in Washington," Brown, who served three terms in the Senate before losing a reelection bid in 2024, said in a social media post after his win. "They deserve a senator who fights for working families, not CEOs and billionaires." At his election night party, Brown denounced major banks, insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and "big corporations" that build data centers in Ohio. He also took aim at Husted. "Ohioans don't have anyone fighting for you, until November," Brown told the crowd.
Husted, who did not hold an election night party, was unopposed in his primary, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term that Vice President JD Vance won in 2022. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted, then his lieutenant governor, to the seat in January last year.
- In the governor's race, biotech billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy clinched the Republican nomination over a minor challenger and will face off this fall against Democrat Amy Acton, the state's COVID-era health director.
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