Jon Who-sted?
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted faces a significant challenge – or perhaps an opportunity – heading into next year’s election: a significant number of Ohio voters don’t know who he is.
An Emerson College poll released last week showed the Republican narrowly leading former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. But it also found 38% of voters were either unsure what they thought about Husted or had never heard of him at all. This made Husted, who’s held his job for 11 months, by far the least-known of the six candidates the survey quizzed voters about.
That’s got to be an ego blow for Husted, who first won a legislative seat in 2001 and has held statewide elected office since 2011. But Husted, who officially filed to run in the November 2026 election last Friday, argues it might not be such a bad thing.
“You know, having everybody know you as somebody that’s been around forever is not exactly an asset,” Husted said when he was asked about his relative anonymity.
In contrast, Brown was the second-best-known candidate included in the poll. Voters with an opinion about Brown were basically split down the middle on whether they liked him or not.
Husted’s low profile could make it harder for him to distance himself from what’s happening in Washington, D.C., if the electorate turns out to be angry with the status quo next year.
But Husted is hoping his brief tenure could help him hang the country’s problems on someone who’s no longer in office.
“He was in Washington for 32 years, and the voters just sent him home,” Husted said of Brown. “They have a pretty good memory. I’m confident that they know that I have fought for them.”
When asked Wednesday if Husted has a point, Brown, who spoke with reporters after meeting with local business owners about affordability issues, said he didn’t want to engage in punditry.
But, Brown said Husted voted against plans to prevent looming health insurance spikes by extending Obamacare subsidies and also has failed to speak out against President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Both points are two of Brown’s main campaign attacks.
“I’m not there now. I’ve not been there for many of these things,” Brown said.
‘The buck stops with me’
Another strange dynamic in next year’s election involves Vivek Ramaswamy and other Republicans attacking Gov. Mike DeWine’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as a core part of their case for why voters should elect another Republican as governor in next year’s election.
They’re not attacking DeWine directly. But Republicans’ argument involves calling likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dr. Amy Acton the “COVID queen” who shut down schools during her time in state government, via the advice she gave to DeWine as state health director in 2020.
Andrew asked DeWine what he thinks about this Republican talking point – and whether Acton gave him good advice – during his annual holiday-season meeting with the Statehouse press corps last week.
“First of all, I don’t like ‘shutdowns.’ That’s not the right word,” DeWine said.
DeWine went on to emphasize he didn’t get advice just from Acton – he also consulted experts across the country before acting in 2020.
Ultimately, DeWine said, when it comes to the pandemic: “The buck stops with me.” He didn’t want to say if he thought Acton would make a good governor.
Ramaswamy’s concerns with the pandemic apparently haven’t stopped him from seeking DeWine’s approval. The governor said he’s enjoyed meeting with Ramaswamy recently, and that he fully expects to endorse him. But he’s not quite ready to do so yet.
“We’re still having discussions. I want to get a better understanding of his positions, what his vision is,” the governor said while explaining the hold-up. “And I would say that our discussions have been good. Obviously, I want to talk to him about some of the things I see as well.”
Ohio amendment campaign gearing up
A national advocacy group is gearing up to spend millions next year to convince Ohio voters to add hunting and fishing rights to the state constitution.
Luke Hilgemann with T. Roosevelt Action said his group is prepared to spend $5 million in Ohio promoting the amendment. But first, the Republican-controlled state legislature has to vote to place it on the November 2026 ballot.
Hilgemann spoke with Andrew as his group, which has successfully backed similar proposals in more than 20 states, is touting an internal poll that shows overwhelming support for the measure. The poll is a sign of the organized support for the measure – a major factor that increases proposed amendments’ chances of ultimately making it into law.
Ballot issues are tricky to poll, and private polls in general should be taken with a large grain of salt. But the survey’s finding that 79% of Ohioans support the proposed amendment is consistent with how versions of the measure have performed in other states.
Read more about the amendment and the campaign behind it here.
Feds inch toward leasing Wayne National Forest for fracking
The Bureau of Land Management this week opened public comments on its aim of leasing 2,795 acres of Wayne National Forest to the oil and gas industry. It’s part of the bureaucratic process of a goal sought by the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations to allow fracking in the only national forest in Ohio.
The comment period ends Jan. 15, 2026. After any leases are issued, developers would still need permits to drill.
The advancement echoes Ohio’s recent decision to allow fracking in its state parks and wildlife preserves.
City Club rebuffs request to cancel forum with Christian lobbyist
The City Club of Cleveland is hosting Aaron Baer next month, a Columbus lobbyist and president of the Center for Christian Virtue. The CCV and its $4.7 million budget is a powerful force behind Ohio’s school privatization movement; the GOP’s continued anti-abortion push; and some of the various new laws restricting rights of transgender Ohioans.
The City Club prides itself on inviting guests from both parties. Its recent list includes Amy Acton, Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman, Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, Republican Ohio Senate Education Chair Jerry Cirino and others. They include the controversial, ranging from Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, in 2017 to George Wallace, the infamous segregationist governor of Alabama and presidential candidate, in 1967.
In response to the Baer event, dozens of progressive organizations and individuals petitioned the club to cancel. They faulted organizers for “providing unchallenged space to a group with a documented history of spreading … harmful misinformation about LGBTQIA2S+.” The letter, posted by the Buckeye Flame, says it’s not about silencing disagreement so much as not handing the microphone to someone whose public messaging “stigmatizes and harms.”
Dan Moulthrop, executive director of the club since 2013, said in an interview the club knew inviting Baer would be controversial, but he didn’t expect the level of organization or volume behind the opposition. He described Baer as a newsworthy figure worth understanding given Baer’s heft in Columbus and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s recent investigation into CCV’s political clout and funding.
But he said the dustup is a reflection of our modern “cancel culture” and refusal to engage with those we disagree with.
“National divorce is not an option. We are all sharing this state and nation with people we disagree with,” Moulthrop said. “We can’t divorce, we have to figure out how to get along.”
Conservatives seized the moment. Moreno said the club stood up to the “new, illiberal left.” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, even wrote Moulthrop an unsolicited, open letter that he posted on social media praising his decision and warning that caving would cause “your very existence as a forum … [to] evaporate.”
In the news
Brown’s financial disclosure: Sherrod Brown made thousands of dollars writing freelance articles and teaching at Harvard University part-time during his brief break from politics, according to a new financial disclosure report the Democrat filed on Tuesday. Read more.
What Workforce Pell Grant expansion may mean for Ohio: The federal financial aid offering will soon be available to go toward more short-term training programs, including those traditionally offered at community colleges and technical schools. Read more from Amy Morona.
FirstEnergy case: Two former executives at FirstEnergy Corp. asked a judge on Friday to stifle testimony from the company’s top accountant. Specifically, they want to block testimony related to his 2020 conclusion that the company’s $4.3 million payment to a soon-to-be public official “could be related to an unlawful activity.” Read more from Jake Zuckerman and Arielle Kass.
Trump’s pardon: President Donald Trump pardoned a Washington, D.C. area businessman who was convicted of securities fraud over his dealings with a Cleveland-area company whose CEO bilked nearly $7 million from investors in a penny stock scheme. Read more Jake Zuckerman.