Vice President JD Vance downplayed his presidential ambitions while campaigning in Ohio on Friday for Sen. Jon Husted and other Republicans competing in what could be their toughest election in years.
“I think it has nothing to do with 2028,” Vance said in response to a question about how important retaining Ohio is for his expected bid for the White House in two years. “It has to do with how we’re going to govern our country over the next two years, the next 10 years. Hopefully, Jon Husted will be a senator for a long time.”
Vance spoke with reporters, including from Signal Ohio, early Friday afternoon at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport before heading to Lima to speak. His appearance follows President Donald Trump’s visit to the Dayton are last Saturday and precedes the president’s planned stop in Youngstown on Monday.
Together, the three trips show that Ohio is a key focus for national Republicans despite Trump’s winning record here, which includes carrying the Buckeye State by 11 percentage points in 2024. The closest races in the state include the top of the ticket: the governor’s race between Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton and Husted’s contest against former Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
During his Friday visit, Vance voted at the Hamilton County Board of Elections’ busy early voting center as bemused voters and election workers looked on.
Vance spilled the beans about some of the votes he cast, specifically noting he backed Ramaswamy, Husted and Jay Edwards, a lower-profile Republican candidate and the state treasurer candidate with whom Vance is personally close. (Edwards is running against Democrat Seth Walsh.)
“They’re great people. They’ll make great public servants,” Vance said.
Why is Ohio’s U.S. Senate seat up for grabs again?
The intense national interest in Ohio traces back to Vance’s election as vice president in November 2024. Because he vacated the Senate seat so early in his six-year term, a special election this November is required by law to fill the seat until the term expires in 2028. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted – who at the time was his lieutenant governor – as Vance’s immediate replacement.
Brown, a three-term senator who was voted out of office in November 2024, is challenging Husted. Democrats recruited Brown to run in what might have initially seemed like a tough sell in light of Ohio’s Republican lean. Polling suggests the move by Brown was an astute one that now lines up with a shift in the national mood against Republicans. Numerous polls give Brown a narrow lead over Husted, although Republicans have a history of outrunning polls in Ohio.
Democratic candidates also are polling well in a few other Republican states Democrats need to win to retake control of the Senate – Alaska and Texas – which has put Ohio in the forefront in this year’s national midterm elections.
Vance addresses data center backlash
Republicans are facing backlash for high gas prices stemming from Trump’s decision to attack Iran in February. Husted is also fighting off criticism for his past support of data centers, which have become a surprise leading political issue in Ohio. Voters around the state have opposed building the massive facilities in their communities, citing their large size and role in driving up electricity prices due to their massive power demands.
Trump has aggressively defended data centers. On Friday, Vance echoed the president’s support of data centers, although the vice president conceded that some communities may not want them.
“We’re going to make these things an economic engine for the American people,” Vance said. “But it’s going to require them to be respectful of the local communities and to make sure they’re putting power back into the grid, not taking it out.”
