Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, speaks to reporters during a news conference about the SAVE America Act with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., at the U.S. Capitol on March 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—With U.S. Sen. Jon Husted officially the Republican nominee against former Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, Americans for Prosperity Action is ramping up efforts for this special election in Ohio.
After endorsing him in March, the group is doing an ad campaign for Husted.
With the new $750,000 ad buy, AFPA has now spent $1.25 million in Ohio. The ads, which will run until May 31, will reach around 1.7 million Ohioans and play across connected TV, YouTube, and Meta.
“With the economy at a crossroads, Ohio families are feeling the pressure,” the ad states.
AFP says the ad aims to highlight Husted’s role in having “passed the largest tax cut in American history,” in addition to slashing regulations.
It concludes with, “The Ohio way, not Washington’s, that’s Jon Husted.”
During an exclusive interview with The Daily Signal last September, Husted claimed he is the “Ohio guy” and Brown is the “D.C. guy.”
Another ad criticizes Brown and his record for having “repeatedly backed extreme progressive policies that drove up prices.” Policies cited include higher taxes and spending and job-killing regulations.
Notably, the ad features an image of Brown with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“Sherrod Brown puts his party’s extreme agenda over Ohio families, putting Washington politics first, and hurting Ohio. We just can’t afford Sherrod Brown,” it warns.
According to Donovan O’Neil, AFPA senior adviser, the group wants to “hyper-target their message to voters,” chiefly on the issue of affordability.
“[Husted] has a record of getting things done and being focused on the issues that Ohioans care about,” O’Neil told The Daily Signal. “He’s part of the solution to the decades of D.C. dysfunction that Sherrod Brown has been a part of his entire career.”
He added he’s clear-eyed about the uphill battle candidates face with a Republican president in office.
“The reality is, voters will want to know what individual candidates seeking their vote are going to do to address the affordability challenges that they’re facing, and I think we can win on that,” O’Neil said.
Ohio has long been a bellwether state, which means voters can expect both parties to allocate resources there in mid-October ahead of the election.
The latest ad campaign follows an April 30 memo from AFPA Senior Adviser Emily Seidel and Executive Director Nathan Nascimento, in which the pair stressed affordability and warned that Republicans could lose the Senate if they don’t focus on the right issues.
“As it stands today, our view is that the Republican Senate majority is at risk. But there is still time. The window to act is now,” the memo stressed.
