Washington, D.C.– Today, LCV Victory Fund launched a $2 million digital ad campaign focused on Senator Jon Husted’s record on data centers. This ad comes after Senator Husted’s failed attempt this week to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, which only asked states to “consider” regulations on data center developers instead of offering legislation with any real accountability. The program also includes $2,500,000 in mail that targets Husted on his history with FirstEnergy. The digital ad will run on CTV through October 12th.

WATCH: Face
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“Senator Husted has had plenty of opportunities to regulate data center developers and Big Tech,” said Sara Schreiber, Senior Vice President of Campaigns at LCV Victory Fund. “Now, with nearly 30 days until the election he is grasping at straws in a failed attempt to run from Big Tech and distance himself from his corrupt reputation. Ohioans deserve a leader who will actually stand up to Big Tech when they are hurting communities, and help lower their utility costs, instead of making empty promises.”

This ad focuses on how Senator Husted took $630,000 in campaign donations from data center interests and later voted in favor of $80 billion in tax breaks for data centers as a part of the Republican Tax Law, also known as the “Big Ugly Bill.” Husted’s shady alliance with Big Tech did not start there, in 2019 during his time as Lieutenant Governor, Husted pushed for a deal with Google to give them $43.5 million in state tax incentives and a 15-year local property tax abatement in exchange for a new data center in Ohio.

In September, LCV Victory Fund and EDF Action Votes launched a $4 million ad campaign calling out Senator Husted for his role raising utility bills for Ohioans and his role delivering a bailout to FirstEnergy. During his campaign for Ohio Lieutenant Governor in 2018, FirstEnergy spent $1 million to boost his campaign. Once elected, Husted led the charge to pass state House Bill 6, which funded a $1 billion taxpayer-funded bailout for FirstEnergy. As a result, Ohioans’ utility bills have risen as much as 35%.

LCV Victory Fund and affiliated entities previously announced that they plan to invest at least $50 million in the 2026 midterm election cycle overall. Earlier this summer, LCV Victory Fund announced their strategy to target the “Energy Bill Voter.” Our research shows that 42% of swing voters are “very concerned” about rising electricity costs.

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Paid for by LCV Victory Fund, www.lcvvictoryfund.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

WATCH: Face
Script below

Jon Husted has been called the face of AI data centers

And he has earned that nickname

Husted has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from data center developers

Then he got to work

Voting to give them billions of taxpayer money,

Your money to build even more data centers in Ohio,

Driving electric bills even higher

Husted gave data centers billions

You got stuck with the build