Ohio Senate special election 2026: Jon Husted vs. Sherrod Brown

The basics

Ohioans vote Nov. 3 in a special election for the Senate seat JD Vance gave up in January 2025 to become vice president. Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted to the seat. The winner serves the rest of Vance's term, which runs through January 2029. It is Ohio's first Senate special election since 1954.

Husted ran unopposed in the Republican primary, and Brown faced minimal opposition for the Democratic nomination. Libertarian William Redpath and independent Greg Levy are also running, according to the FEC.

The candidates

Jon Husted (R) served as Ohio's lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2025 and earlier as secretary of state. He has been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Right to Life, and President Donald Trump campaigned in Ohio in the race's final week.

Sherrod Brown (D) represented Ohio in the Senate for three terms before losing to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024 by about 3.5 points. He is running on his record with labor unions and has been endorsed by the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and the Ohio Conference of Teamsters, among others. A September Bowling Green State University poll found that a quarter of likely voters wrongly believed Brown was still the incumbent, The New York Times reported.

Where the race stands

Brown has led most recent independent polls by a few points. Suffolk University (Oct. 21–26, 500 likely voters, ±4.4) had Brown 47%, Husted 44%. Fox News (Oct. 15–19, 1,592 likely voters, ±2) had Brown 52%, Husted 47%, and Marist (Oct. 15–18) had Brown 48%, Husted 44%. STTPN's average of six recent independent polls is Brown 49%, Husted 45.3%.

Cook and Sabato's Crystal Ball rate the race a Toss-up. Inside Elections rates it Tilt Democratic. Brown had raised about $68.4 million through Oct. 14, compared with about $19.9 million for Husted, according to the FEC.

The issues

Data centers

Brown's ads call Husted "the face of data centers in Ohio" and say he backed about $2.5 billion in tax incentives for them as lieutenant governor, a figure that comes from an Ohio Chamber of Commerce estimate of state and local incentives over seven years, the Statehouse News Bureau reported. Husted says data centers bring jobs and investment to rural areas and sponsored a bill to make them pay their own utility costs. A Bowling Green State University poll found 71% of Ohioans support a temporary pause on new data centers, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

The war in Iran

Husted has said, "I don't know anybody that doesn't want the war to end," and that Iran must not control the Strait of Hormuz or get a nuclear weapon. He has voted against a Democratic war powers resolution. Brown says ending the war is Democrats' first priority and points to Husted's repeated votes against bringing such resolutions to the floor.

Immigration

Husted says "Democrats gave us open borders and sanctuary cities" and supported ending temporary protected status for Haitians. Brown has broken with some Democrats by backing stricter border policies and says he does not support abolishing ICE, but he opposes deporting Haitians who are "contributing" to the country.

Controversies

Husted has said Democrats gave tax dollars to people in the country illegally, citing Brown's vote for the 2021 American Rescue Plan. The Statehouse News Bureau rated that claim false, noting the law's $1,400 checks excluded undocumented immigrants.

In late October, a fake video styled as a newscast and using photos of a former Brown intern spread on X. Researchers told the Associated Press it was likely made with AI by a Russia linked network. The former intern said the claims attributed to her were "completely made up," and X removed the original posts.