When Jon Husted took his Senate seat earlier this year, many Ohioans hoped his decades in state government would bring moderation, competence, and a focus on kitchen‑table issues.
Instead, just months into his tenure, Husted has become a symbol of Washington dysfunction—cheering on a government shutdown, siding with corporate interests over families, and ignoring the crushing cost of living that defines daily life in our state.
The shutdown that punished workers
The federal shutdown didn’t have to happen. Congress could have kept the government open by extending the same Affordable Care Act subsidies that have kept health‑care premiums affordable for hundreds of thousands of Ohioans.
Instead, Husted lined up behind the hardliners who refused to act unless those subsidies expired.
His so‑called “clean funding” bill was anything but clean: it gutted vital programs and used federal workers and families as bargaining chips.
While Husted made headlines for pledging to forgo his own paycheck, that symbolic gesture meant little to the thousands of Ohioans who actually missed paychecks.
Families lost access to critical child‑care and nutrition programs, veterans faced delays in benefits, and community health centers ran out of funds. That’s not fiscal responsibility—it’s reckless cruelty masquerading as principle.
Health care costs are soaring—and Husted is making it worse
Health care in Ohio is already on a knife’s edge. Ending ACA subsidies will spike premiums by more than 80% for many families.
Nearly half a million Ohioans could lose Medicaid coverage under the plans Husted supports.
Yet instead of fighting for relief, he has spent his short Senate career parroting the same talking points we’ve heard for a decade: that the private market will fix everything if we just cut enough red tape.
That logic failed when he was lieutenant governor, and it’s failing now. Hospitals are overwhelmed, rural clinics are closing, and working families are skipping prescriptions to pay rent.
Ohio doesn’t need more deregulation or corporate tax breaks—it needs a senator willing to defend the right to affordable, accessible care.
A cost‑of‑living crisis ignored
Across Ohio, people are working longer hours for less purchasing power. Rents and utility bills keep climbing, while wages stagnate.
Husted’s answer? The same old trickle‑down promises: more subsidies for big corporations and fewer taxes for the wealthy.
He touts JobsOhio projects as proof of success, yet those taxpayer‑funded deals rarely lift local wages or lower costs for ordinary residents. Instead, they reward multibillion‑dollar companies while communities see little in return.
This cost‑of‑living crisis demands real solutions—living wages, affordable housing, childcare support, and investments in green energy jobs that stay in our communities. Husted’s record shows no urgency on any of these fronts.
Ohio deserves better
Jon Husted could have used his first year in the Senate to prove that pragmatism still has a place in the Republican Party. Instead, he’s chosen partisanship over progress and austerity over compassion. The people of Ohio deserve leadership that fights for them—not politicians who punish them in the name of politics.
If Husted won’t put working families first, Ohioans will find leaders who will.
