The Republican Party’s own U.S. Senate campaign arm is warning major AI companies that Jon Husted’s association with data centers has become the biggest political liability in his race against Sherrod Brown — and that the industry itself needs to step in before November.

A private Aug. 18 memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, obtained by Axios and titled Ohio Data Center Risk, offers an unusually blunt assessment of an issue Husted has spent weeks trying to neutralize.

“Brown is using it because it works,” the memo says. “More than any other thing in this race, data centers are the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck.”

The NRSC says Brown has made data centers the “centerpiece” of his case against Husted and has spent millions of dollars on three television ads hammering the Republican over the issue.

Its conclusion: The attacks are working better than the standard campaign playbook.

“Our polling indicates that this messaging is significantly more effective than traditional messaging tracts,” the memo says, describing data centers as a “sleeper issue for the entire election cycle.”

Republicans say the campaign cannot fix it

The memo goes further than acknowledging Husted has a political problem. It effectively tells the corporations building data centers that they are going to have to help solve it.

“Campaigns or party committees can not fix the toxic brand of an entire segment of the economy,” the NRSC says under a section titled “WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN.”

Instead, Republicans say, “the companies that need these projects built have to fix how Ohioans see them: who benefits, who pays, and why a community should want one.”

“Until that happens, the issue will continue to dominate this race,” the memo says.

According to Axios, the memo was directed to top AI companies as Republicans and industry leaders grow increasingly worried that opposition to data centers could spread beyond Ohio.

The appeal comes as the industry is already spending money to reshape public opinion. TiffinOhio.net reported in July that a Data Center Coalition-backed network, including Connected Ohio, was running similar advertising campaigns across seven states defending data centers against criticism over their electricity demand, water use and tax incentives.

Public poll has Brown up 8

The NRSC memo opens by saying Husted and Brown are in a “dead heat,” citing private polling that has not been publicly released.

But the latest public Fox News poll, conducted Aug. 6 through Aug. 10, showed Brown leading Husted 53% to 45% among Ohio voters.

The NRSC argues that Husted can pull ahead once voters hear attacks on Brown’s record. Data centers, the committee says, are the “new problem” disrupting that strategy.

“If he loses and data centers get the blame, politicians across the country will take notice — and they will not go near the next one,” the memo warns.

Husted spent years promoting the industry

The Republican concern comes after years in which Husted publicly promoted data centers as an economic development success for Ohio.

As TiffinOhio.net previously reported, Husted played a prominent role in promoting billion-dollar data center investments during his six years as lieutenant governor. He praised Google’s arrival in New Albany, defended a $43.5 million state tax incentive tied to the project and later celebrated billions of dollars in additional investment from major technology companies.

That record has become the foundation of Brown’s summer advertising campaign, which brands Husted “the face of data centers in Ohio.”

Husted has since tried to reposition himself as an advocate for ratepayers. He introduced federal legislation intended to push states toward requiring large electricity users to cover the infrastructure costs needed to serve them.

But in a July interview, Husted also told Ohioans that consumer demand for digital services helped create the data center boom, saying, “when we look in the mirror, we are the problem.” TiffinOhio.net reported on those remarks last month.

His campaign has also accepted about $69,750 from political action committees and employees tied to data center and utility interests, including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, American Electric Power, Duke Energy and Vistra, according to federal campaign finance records through June 30.

NRSC’s proposed attack does not match Brown’s position

The memo also reveals the message Republicans want to use to counter the attacks.

It says voters prefer a Republican candidate who allows data centers only in communities that approve them and requires the facilities to pay for their own power, water and other utilities over a Democratic candidate “who wants to stop data center construction altogether.”

That latter description does not match Brown’s stated position.

Brown has called for eliminating Ohio’s data center tax incentives, requiring the facilities to pay the full costs associated with their electricity use and giving local communities a say over whether projects are built. Neither Brown nor Husted has endorsed a blanket statewide moratorium on new data centers.

Ohio Democrats: Husted wants the industry to bail him out

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen seized on the memo Wednesday, arguing that Republicans are now asking the same corporations associated with Ohio’s data center boom to rescue Husted politically.

“After leading the charge to bring hundreds of data centers to Ohio, Jon Husted is now being crushed by his toxic record that has sent electricity rates soaring for families. Now Husted is begging the industry to come and bail him out, but it won’t work — and Ohioans will hold him accountable for jacking up their utility bills in November.”

The NRSC’s final warning underscores just how much Republicans believe is riding on Ohio.

“If Husted loses because of data centers, the industry will be blamed,” the committee says, “and elected officials or other parties will learn a cautionary lesson.”