Ohio Democrats are banking on voters wanting a change from President Donald Trump, high living costs and Republican rule in the Buckeye State.
“No matter how hard you work, your pay is not keeping up, and too often you just can’t get ahead,” said former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is running to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted this fall. “Families see more money going out the door and not enough money coming in to pay for utilities and health care and groceries and everything.”
Brown and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton painted their Republican opponents as out of touch with what Ohio voters need at the Ohio Democratic Party’s annual dinner on Aug. 1.
Acton called herself “an Ohio girl” and leaned into her Youngstown roots, saying “there’s this sense of street justice when I grew up in Youngstown, values that I learned on the street about watching out for one another.” Acton contrasted her upbringing with Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire biotech entrepreneur backed by Trump. Ramaswamy grew up in the Cincinnati area, the son of Indian immigrants.
Acton and Ramaswamy are vying to replace GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, who cannot run again because of term limits. Acton, who was director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID pandemic, has kept the gubernatorial race competitive in the polls despite tens of millions in ads spent against her by Ramaswamy and his supporters. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently donated $5 million to a super PAC supporting Ramaswamy, his former co-leader in the Department of Government Efficiency.
“It hasn’t moved the needle,” Acton said to cheers from Democrats at the Columbus Convention Center. “You cannot buy this state. You can’t buy us.”
Democrats are hoping to capitalize on President Donald Trump’s low approval rating and anti-Republican sentiment nationwide.
Ohio has been red state in recent elections
But Democrats’ recent record hasn’t been great in the Buckeye State. The state hasn’t elected a Democratic governor since 2006. Brown, who served as the Democrats’ longtime exception to the rule of Republican dominance, lost his 2024 race to GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno as President Trump won the state for the third time.
Ohio Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Brunner referenced her status as the last statewide elected Democrat, saying: “I have been holding my finger in the dike, and I’m waiting for my colleagues to get here,” Brunner said.
Brown, campaigning to make a return to the U.S. Senate, criticized Husted for backing Trump’s policies and promoting data centers in Ohio. Voters have become outspoken against the proliferation of data centers in the Buckeye State − a frustration Brown is trying to capitalize on. Acton recently announced a conditional moratorium on new data centers if they didn’t meet certain criteria.
“Big corporations gobble up energy to feed their data centers. They devour your land. They suck up your water, then they leave you with the bill,” Brown said to the crowd.
Husted spokesperson Amy Natoce blamed Brown for driving up energy prices by supporting benefits for immigrants and environmental policies. “Ohioans fired Sherrod Brown once already, and they won’t forget why,” she said.
Sen. Mark Kelly recounts battle with Trump, Hegseth
Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired astronaut and husband to former Rep. Gabby Giffords, headlined the Ohio Democrats’ fundraiser as he mulls a 2028 presidential bid.
Kelly recounted his high-profile fight with Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over advising troops to “refuse illegal orders.”
“And in response, Donald Trump said I should be hanged, executed, prosecuted. I mean, this guy can’t even get the order right,” Kelly said.
Kelly isn’t an early presidential frontrunner like former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, ex-Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg or New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but the race to replace President Donald Trump is still years away.
Kelly also discussed the struggles young voters, like his daughter, face in purchasing property despite their best efforts to save and invest.
“They are doing everything right. They are working hard. They’re saving what they can. They are playing by the rules. But all that doesn’t get you nearly as far as it did when I was her age,” Kelly said. “The system is working. It’s just not working for you, and that’s what we need to change this November.”
Ohio Democrats hope to hit ‘grand slam’ with statewide ticket
Ohio Democrats also touted their slate of statewide candidates: Maple Heights Mayor Annette Blackwell running for state auditor; longtime lawyer John J. Kulewicz running for attorney general; state Rep. Allison Russo running for secretary of state; Cincinnati councilman Seth Walsh running for state treasurer; and Marilyn Zayas and Brunner running for state Supreme Court.
Top House Democrat Dani Isaacsohn, of Cincinnati, talked about the importance of breaking Republicans’ veto-proof majority in the Ohio House of Representatives, particularly if Acton wins. “If we can’t sustain the governor’s veto from the statehouse, then the forces that have sold us out to the highest bidder will continue to have their way,” he said.
That could be a tall order for a Democratic Party that has come up short in recent elections. Still, Ohio Democratic Party leader Kathleen Clyde reached for a baseball metaphor to explain Democrats’ position heading into November.
“Our state is at an inflection point. How I see it: we’re in the ninth inning of a Guard(ian)’s game. We haven’t won yet, but we’re at bat, and the bases are loaded. This is in our hands,” Clyde said. “Together, we’re going to hit a grand slam.”
State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@usatodayco.com or @jbalmert on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Brown, Acton bet voters want change as Democrats keep Ohio close
Reporting by Jessie Balmert, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jessie Balmert, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
