Brown Targets Ohio Data Centers as Senate Race Tightens

Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown is making data center expansion and rising living costs central issues in his campaign against Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, where polling shows a competitive contest ahead of the November 3, 2026, midterm elections. Brown addressed approximately 100 people at Ohio University Zanesville on Thursday evening, discussing artificial intelligence infrastructure, economic pressures and the war in Iran, according to WHIZ.

A CNN poll conducted September 29 through October 5 found Brown leading Husted by 6 percentage points among likely Ohio voters, although the result falls within the poll's 4.5-percentage-point margin of error. The survey included 760 likely voters and found substantial dissatisfaction with economic conditions and President Donald Trump's policies, according to CNN's findings reported by The Columbus Dispatch and Yahoo.

According to the CNN poll, 76% of likely Ohio voters said Trump's policies had increased the state's cost of living, while 69% described gasoline prices as a moderate or severe hardship. Another 58% said tariffs were bad for Ohio, 49% identified the economy or cost of living as their top issue, and 43% said their financial situation had deteriorated over the previous two years.

Brown has linked these economic concerns to the expansion of large data centers, arguing that their construction can consume farmland and water while increasing pressure on electricity costs. In an account of his campaign appearances published by The Guardian on October 8, Brown described encountering a major construction project while traveling through northwestern Ohio.

"You're driving on what looks like really good farmland, driving past fields, driving past barns, driving past milking parlors, and you see, all of a sudden, you see these huge cranes and you see these trucks coming," Brown said.

He argued that local residents often have little awareness of the facilities' development and may bear the consequences after construction is complete.

"Nobody knows they're there," Brown said.

Brown also criticized the facilities' resource demands and potential effects on household bills.

"They eat up our land. They swallow up our water … then once they're built, our electricity prices go up," Brown said.

The former senator, who served seven terms in the House and three in the Senate, lost his 2024 reelection bid after Ohio voted for Trump by an 11-percentage-point margin. Brown subsequently announced another Senate campaign, seeking to regain the seat in a state that could help determine control of the chamber.

Brown has directly connected Husted to Ohio's data center development, referring to his opponent as "the face of datacenters." A report from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce found that the state provided $2.5 billion in tax breaks for these facilities between 2017 and 2024, when Husted served as lieutenant governor for much of that period.

Brown challenged Husted's account of his role in the industry's growth.

"John Husted, I mean, he's the guy that – he's talking like he didn't know – but he's the reason these datacenters are here – 200 of them," Brown said.

Brown has also used the campaign to emphasize his broader affordability agenda. During a campaign appearance in Lima, he proposed expanding the child tax credit, which reduced child poverty during its single year of implementation under President Joe Biden, according to The Guardian.

His campaign announced billboards carrying the message "See that datacenter? Jon Husted did that" and introduced a website criticizing Husted that included a map of data center locations across Ohio.

Husted's campaign rejected Brown's accusations. Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Husted, said the senator lacked direct authority over tax exemptions during his tenure as lieutenant governor under Gov. Mike DeWine from 2019 to 2025. She also pointed to Husted's support for the Ratepayer Protection Act, which sought to require electric utilities to consider measures addressing data centers' effects on the power grid.

Natoce defended Husted's position and criticized Brown's approach to energy affordability.

"Sherrod Brown and his friends like to talk about affordability, but when the rubber meets the road, they'd rather play politics than actually lower Ohioans' energy bills. It's disgusting," Natoce said.

The legislation passed the House with broad bipartisan support, but Senate Democrats opposed it as ineffective and blocked its advancement in September, according to The Guardian.

Political resistance to new data centers has also grown across Ohio. Nearly 140 communities had imposed moratoriums on new construction, according to the Ohio Capital Journal, while DeWine announced a pause on tax exemptions for the facilities in May.

A Republican campaign committee had also identified the issue as a potential vulnerability for Husted. In an August memo cited by The Guardian, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned that the controversy could have consequences beyond Ohio.

"More than any other thing in this race, datacenters are the anchor hanging around Husted's neck," the memo read.

The memo also warned that a Republican defeat attributed to the issue could influence political decisions elsewhere.

"If he loses and datacenters get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice – and they will not go near the next one," the memo stated.

Polling suggests Brown's challenge extends beyond data center policy. The CNN survey found that 52% of likely Ohio voters preferred Democratic control of the Senate after the midterms, compared with 48% who favored Republican control. Although 34% of voters who disapproved of Trump still intended to vote Republican, 75% of Ohio voters who disapproved of him planned to support the Democratic Senate candidate.

Voters also expressed mixed views of the candidates' political positions. Nearly half considered Brown's views about right, while 43% considered him too liberal. For Husted, 42% viewed his positions as about right, 40% considered him too conservative, and 16% said he was not conservative enough.

The Guardian also reported a separate New York Times and Siena University poll showing Brown with a 3-percentage-point lead over Husted, within that survey's margin of error. The competing results indicate a close race as Ohio's early voting period continues, with in-person early voting beginning October 6 and Election Day scheduled for November 3.

Brown addressed the political climate during his Zanesville appearance, pointing to public frustration over prices and the conflict in Iran while criticizing Husted's positions.

"I don't really comment on polls much, especially polls from outside groups that I don't really know how they're taking," Brown said. "But what I do know is that people are unhappy about the war. They're unhappy about fertilizer prices, about gas prices, about diesel prices.

You're unhappy about prices at the grocery store. They know the system is rigged. They know Jon, Husted voted for this war and continues to and is on the wrong side of these issues."