Sherrod Brown beats Jon Husted in Ohio Senate comeback
Why it matters: Brown flips a crucial seat for Democrats and will serve the final 2 years of JD Vance's term.
Former Sen. Sherrod Brown won Ohio's special Senate election on Tuesday, defeating Republican Jon Husted in a costly race that handed Democrats a critical pickup in their fight to retake the chamber. Brown, who lost a Senate race two years ago, staged a comeback by targeting Husted over his support for artificial intelligence data centers, ties to a Statehouse bribery scandal and donations linked to billionaire Les Wexner. The victory gives Brown the final two years of the Senate term JD Vance won in 2022 before leaving for the vice presidency. The race drew more than $500 million in spending and tested whether Democrats could still compete in a state that had trended sharply Republican.