As GOP warns data centers put Ohio Senate seat at risk, Husted defends energy policy

U.S. Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) speaks during a Senate Appropriations committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.Finn Gomez | Getty ImagesSen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, defended President Donald Trump's energy and economic agenda on Friday during an appearance at a southwestern Ohio steel mill with Vice President JD Vance, as Republicans warn that backlash over data centers could be putting his seat in jeopardy.Husted's comments come days after the National Republican Senatorial Committee, or NRSC, warned in a memo that data centers have become a "sleeper issue" this election cycle, as Americans increasingly worry about the impact they could have on their utility costs.Ohio is home to several large data center projects, including a proposed 10-gigawatt campus in Pike County that could cost more than $500 billion.But higher electricity costs, Husted said, are the result of Democratic policies, not data center construction."You want to have lower electricity prices — I want to tell you why they're rising. Because Congress and, under the Obama administration, under the Biden administration, they closed 23 power plants in the state of Ohio, representing ha...