EXCLUSIVE: Jon Husted Dismisses Sherrod Brown As Already Bleeding Support In Ohio Senate Race
Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted is touting new allies in his bid to win re-election in the midterms: his opponent’s former supporters.
Husted has gained early support from several Ohio labor groups that backed former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in his failed reelection bid in 2024. Although Husted and Brown, the likely Democratic nominee, are gearing up for what promises to be one of the highest-profile matchups of the midterms, Husted argues that he is already narrowing Brown’s traditional base seven months from the May 2026 primary. (RELATED: The Teamsters Union, Long Supported by the Democratic Party, Is Increasingly Supporting Republicans)
“Sherrod Brown lost the last election to [Republican Ohio Sen.] Bernie Moreno by over 200,000 votes, and part of his coalition is already coming out and supporting us with many of the early union endorsements we received,” Husted told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a recent interview.
International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 66, a union representing construction workers in Northeast Ohio, endorsed Husted on October 14. The group noted in its support that Husted “leads through action, not just photo ops or political talking points”
IUOE Local 18 and the Northwest Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council – made up of 18 affiliated local unions – also publicly supported Husted’s re-election campaign despite his prior support of Brown.
“I think it’s a realization that Sherrod Brown sucks,” Moreno told the DCNF of his former opponent’s loss of support from some labor groups. “They realized Sherrod Brown hadn’t done anything for them all these years.”
A spokesperson for Brown did not immediately respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
Husted is expected to head to the general election after anticipated support from President Donald Trump helped clear the primary field.
He’s also touting a united Republican ticket with Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP front-runner in the state’s gubernatorial race. The two candidates swapped endorsements in September, allowing both candidates to focus on building Republicans in a year when Trump will not be on the ballot.
Meanwhile, Brown may be forced to spend money in the primary to fend off a long-shot challenge from entrepreneur Fred Ode, who has so far contributed $5 million to his self-funded campaign.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 11: U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) leaves the U.S. Capitol for a private meeting July 11, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)
Husted says the early union endorsements are a product of the trust he built with unions by helping secure economic development projects and create new jobs during his more than two decades in public service.
He previously served as lieutenant governor, secretary of state and speaker of the state House of Representatives before being appointed to the Senate to fill the remainder of Vice President J.D. Vance’s term.
“When businesses and unions work together, alongside public officials, we can create more jobs to grow the pie, rather than being pitted against each other fighting for pieces of the pie,” Husted told DCNF. “And that led to the great relationships I had with local unions in Ohio.”
Husted also spoke positively about the job at the national level, telling DCNF that he has a “very high opinion” of Teamsters union President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The group has donated to dozens of Republican candidates this year, despite supporting Democrats almost exclusively for decades. The Teamsters PAC contributed $4,000 to Husted’s re-election campaign.
“WWe continue to build strong relationships because we are results-driven,” Husted told DCNF.We have a proven track record in these relationships to help improve the fortunes of working Ohioans.
He is also confident that the realignment of working-class voters to the GOP in the 2024 elections will last. The Democratic Party is out of step with grassroots unionists, who believe in border security, the Second Amendment and common-sense policies banning biological males from playing women’s sports, according to Husted.
“Ohio workers are more aligned with Republicans than Democrats,” Husted told DCNF. “You see the organizations that they work for, the unions, especially the people of Ohio, who are very supportive of the direction that we’re going. »
Brown has also secured several early union endorsements from local unions in Ohio and has support from national labor groups closely aligned with the Democratic Party.
ARTESIA, NEW MEXICO – AUGUST 21: U.S. Border Patrol training supervisors monitor new recruits during their first day at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy August 21, 2025 in Artesia, New Mexico. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Husted also received approval from the National Border Patrol Council on Thursday. The union, which represents about 18,000 Customs and Border Patrol (CPB) agents, praised Husted for his support of Trump’s border security agenda and criticized Brown for “watching the Biden administration open the nation to a flood of illegal immigrants.”
Regarding the government shutdown, Husted didn’t hesitate to say that Brown would have voted with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to keep the government closed indefinitely if he were still in the Senate.
“HThat’s Chuck Schumer’s most reliable vote,” Husted told the DCNF. “We absolutely know he would vote with Chuck Schumer every time.”
Schumer personally pressured Brown to make a return bid for Husted’s seat. Ohio is a must-win state for Democrats in their effort to regain control of the Senate in 2026.
Although polling on the battleground race has been rare so far, Husted is up 2.5 percentage points in RealClearPolitics polls overall. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report calls the contest “Lean Republican.”
Andi Shae Napier contributed to this report.
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