GOP Senator Husted Defends Energy Policy Amid Data Center Backlash

Senator Jon Husted of Ohio has publicly defended President Donald Trump's energy and economic policies. This comes as some Republicans express concern that a growing backlash against data centers could put Husted's Senate seat at risk.

Husted's remarks were made during a visit to a steel mill in southwestern Ohio, alongside Vice President JD Vance. His comments follow a memo from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) highlighting data centers as a significant "sleeper issue" for the current election cycle, due to increasing public worry about their impact on utility costs.

Ohio is currently involved in several large-scale data center projects, including a proposed 10-gigawatt facility in Pike County that is estimated to cost over $500 billion.

However, Husted asserts that the rise in electricity prices is a direct consequence of Democratic policies, not the construction of data centers. He stated, "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 half the electricity we use on a daily basis. Radical climate policies did that."

Husted and Vance were joined at the Cleveland-Cliffs steel plant in Middletown, Ohio, by other Republican candidates, including Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican nominee for Ohio governor. Recent polls indicate that Husted is narrowly trailing his Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, in his bid for re-election.

Husted's Senate seat is considered vital for Republicans aiming to maintain their majority in the Senate. While the GOP is generally favored to hold onto their Senate majority, factors such as Trump's declining approval ratings, persistent inflation, the ongoing Iran war, and escalating concerns about data centers are reportedly causing unease within the party.

The NRSC memo warned that if public perception of data centers isn't addressed quickly, "the campaign against them will expand far beyond Ohio."

In contrast, Husted praised the Trump administration's contributions to manufacturing in Ohio, referencing a $500 million Department of Energy grant awarded to Cleveland-Cliffs. Initially allocated by the Biden administration to fund a hydrogen-powered furnace at the Middletown facility, the funds will now be used for other upgrades, including to its blast furnace and artificial intelligence technologies.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would match the DOE's funding, resulting in a total investment of $1 billion for the facility. The company anticipates that this project will create over 1,500 jobs during the construction phase.

"We can bring back manufacturing to this great country, in places like Middletown and across our great state," Husted declared. "And why is it important that we do this? Investments like this, a billion-dollar investment right here? Because it's job security, it's economic security, it's national security."