Jon Husted loses rural Ohio as workers reject billionaire cuts
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
As rural Ohio voters face soaring costs for diesel and healthcare, they are rejecting Jon Husted's corporate agenda in favor of Sherrod Brown to end a rigged economic system.
Dean Ferrell is paying ten bucks a pound for ground beef. That used to be filet mignon prices. Now it is just the cost of survival. Ferrell says he has to buy reduced items to get by. This is what happens when the people in power stop seeing the people on the ground. Jon Husted and his Republican allies have spent years pretending to be the party of the worker. But the ledger is finally being read. Husted is losing his grip on Ohio because he chose the boardroom over the barn.
The cost of a rigged system
The pain is not a mistake. It is a policy choice. Republicans, including Jon Husted, voted to eliminate federal subsidies under the "One Big Beautiful Bill." Now, healthcare premiums on the ACA marketplace in Ohio are expected to increase by roughly 15%. For self-employed farmers like Larry Cowdery, this is a crisis. He is not sure he can even afford insurance next year. This is the same pattern as the Financial Crisis of 2008. The elites failed and the homeowners paid.
The results are stark. Ohio and Oklahoma tied for the largest drop in ACA marketplace enrollment last year. That was a nearly 33% decline. When you strip away healthcare from the vulnerable, you are not "shrinking government." You are breaking lives.
Corporate greed and the heartland
The squeeze does not stop at the doctor's office. It hits the fuel tank and the soil. Diesel fuel prices increased 50% under the Trump administration and the war in Iran. It is the same corporate greed that fueled the Opioid Crisis. That disaster hollowed out the heartland while owners stayed rich. Now, the cost of doing business is crushing the small producer.
Chris Gibbs is a first-generation farmer in Shelby County. He knows the math of desperation. He reported diesel costs at $7 per gallon. That is $1,000 for a day and a half of work. For a full harvest season, he spends approximately $7,000. Gibbs once chaired the Shelby County Republicans. Now he is the chair of the Ohio Democratic Party Rural Caucus. He is making small-dollar donations via ActBlue to progressive candidates. He is not the only one feeling buyer's remorse.
Farmers like Cowdery worry about nitrogen fertilizer costs from the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, Husted takes money from concentrated interests like AIPAC. He protects the billionaires while the working class pays for the diesel.
The rural revolt
Some still cling to the old script. Melissa Jant argues that Sherrod Brown "ran the country down" during his 30 years in office. She wants "new blood." But "new blood" like Husted has only brought higher prices and fewer subsidies. You cannot argue that the country was "run down" more than it is when ground beef costs ten dollars a pound.
The voters see the scam. According to the Cook Political Report, Sherrod Brown leads Jon Husted 49% to 43%. Voters in Ohio are more worried that Republicans would cut taxes for billionaires while driving up costs for everyone. This is the same mechanism as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which disproportionately raised incomes for the most affluent while wage growth remained modest at best. Tax policies that prioritize corporate profits and billionaire wealth over the basic needs of workers lead to inevitable electoral backlash when the cost of living becomes unbearable.
The shift is real. El País reports that the margin in Ohio has shifted toward the Democrats compared to recent presidential results. Brown outperforms the national Democratic brand by 18 points. He does this by speaking to the material needs of people who are tired of being lied to.
Jon Husted will lose his Senate seat because rural Ohio workers are finally breaking away from the GOP. They are trapped in a vise of skyrocketing input costs and exploding health insurance premiums. This is the inevitable result of a party that views the working class as a voting bloc rather than people with bills to pay. Justice in this election is not just a change in party. It is the firing of the corporate puppets who thought they could starve the heartland and still keep the keys to the Senate.