Category: News

REPORTING: Husted Took $116,892 From Les Wexner, Including A Max Donation Just A Few Weeks Before Blocking Epstein Files Release

Husted Continues to Dodge Questions From Ohioans Who Deserve Accountability

YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO — Today, Ohioans in Youngstown called out Senator Jon Husted for taking more than $116,000 directly from Epstein co-conspirator Les Wexner, including a maximum donation just a few weeks before he voted to block the release of the Epstein files. 

The rally in Youngstown comes as Husted continues to dodge questions and accountability after voting against the release of the Epstein files. Last week, Husted ran away from a reporter when asked why he accepted money from an Epstein co-conspirator. 

Ohioans have also protested Husted outside his Columbus and Toledo offices, and Husted was called out for being a “pedophile protector” at an event in Norwalk. Husted is the only Senator up for re-election to take Wexner’s money, and has taken 10 times as much money from the Epstein co-conspirator than any other sitting Senator.

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Husted continues dodging basic questions that Ohioans deserve answered

COLUMBUS, OHIO — In a new interview, Jon Husted was asked why he took more than $116,000 directly from Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Les Wexner, including a maximum donation just a few weeks before he voted to block the release of the Epstein files. Instead of answering, Husted ran away. 

WATCH HERE:

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“It’s no surprise that Jon Husted literally ran away when asked why he took more $116,000 from an Epstein co-conspirator, including a maximum legal donation just weeks before voting against releasing the Epstein files. Ohioans deserve answers about why Husted took the money, voted to protect his billionaire donor, and continues to run away from accountability.”

As a reminder, Jon Husted is the only Senator up for re-election to take Wexner’s money, and has taken 10 times as much money from the Epstein co-conspirator as any other sitting Senator. Wexner’s name appears in the released Epstein files more than 4,000 times.

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COLUMBUS, OH – New reporting is further detailing Republican candidate for Ohio Treasurer Jay Edwards’ long record relating to the FirstEnergy scandal, which is raising costs for Ohio families by $663 more a year on their utility bills. In addition to voting for House Bill 6, Edwards was included in reporting from the FirstEnergy trial, and was even asked at the time to step down from House leadership over his connection to Larry Householder.

“Corruption is running rampant in Columbus after decades of Republican control, and right in the center of it all is Jay Edwards, who stood by disgraced former Speaker Householder throughout the FirstEnergy bribery scandal,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “With his strong ties to the largest public corruption scandal in Ohio history, Ohioans know they can’t trust Jay Edwards to stand up to corruption and safeguard taxpayer dollars as Ohio Treasurer.”

Read more on Edwards’ record as questions “loom” over his involvement with the FirstEnergy scandal that is raising energy costs for Ohio families:

TiffinOhio: Jay Edwards’ ties to Larry Householder, HB 6 vote, and ethics questions loom over Ohio Treasurer bid

• Former state Rep. Jay Edwards, the Republican nominee for Ohio treasurer, would manage roughly $280 billion in state assets if elected on Nov. 3. The record he brings to that campaign includes a vote for House Bill 6, an FBI-recorded dinner with former Speaker Larry Householder and an indicted lobbyist, a $200 personal check to the dark money entity at the center of the bribery scheme, a vote against expelling Householder after his racketeering indictment, FBI recordings released in a 2025 documentary, a public records dispute over deleted text messages, a censure from his own state party, and a 2025 financial disclosure listing dozens of gifts the candidate now says he probably never received.

Read more HERE.

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Columbus, Ohio-  New reporting from TiffinOhio.net spotlighted what Ohioans already know: Vivek Ramaswamy is just using his bid for governor of Ohio as a layover on the way to a 2028 presidential run.

TiffinOhio.net: Is Ohio a stepping stone? NYT lists Ramaswamy as a 2028 presidential prospect

• A New York Times feature this week added Vivek Ramaswamy to its list of potential 2028 presidential candidates — 15 months after the Ohio Republican nominee for governor publicly pledged to serve a full four-year term and rule out a 2028 White House bid.

• The Times piece, published Wednesday by political reporter Reid J. Epstein, grouped Ramaswamy with Florida Rep. Byron Donalds in a category labeled “The Politicians Who Could Make a Quick Leap.” The Times wrote that the two Republicans “could bounce from running for governor to national campaigns” and noted that Ramaswamy “already ran for president in 2024.”

• Even before Ramaswamy launched his campaign, members of his own party were warning that his ambitions extended beyond Columbus. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who initially ran for the gubernatorial nomination before dropping out, told NBC News in February 2025 that Ramaswamy had spent the previous year cycling through bigger ambitions.

• “He has wanted, over the last year, to be president, to have a Cabinet spot, to be co-leader of DOGE,” Yost said. “The governor of Ohio is not a consolation prize … My concern is that what he seems to do best is to quit.”

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Ramaswamy: “Could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated to say you can’t go back to a normal life?”

Columbus, Ohio- Over the weekend, Vivek Ramaswamy continued to face scrutiny from his extreme, toxic calls to segregate Americans based on COVID immunity status. NBC4’s Colleen Marshall shined a spotlight on Ramaswamy’s comments.

Reporting from the Associated Press first revealed Ramaswamy wanted to “segregate” Americans based on biomarkers and made over $2 billion in profit from the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Then, unearthed audio reported by NBC4 further showed how Ramaswamy contradicted his own comments on the campaign trail after attacking Dr. Amy Acton on her role as Ohio Department of Health director. 

“At every turn, Ohioans are seeing more evidence everything Vivek Ramaswamy does is a lie or scam to make money for himself while working families are left behind,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokeswoman Katie Seewer. “Ohioans can’t trust Vivek Ramaswamy.”

See highlights below and watch the clip here: 

• In 2020, he was talking about stay-at-home mandates and required testing. Critics say that sounds a lot like what Governor DeWine and Doctor Acton were doing back then, the very thing that many Republicans now call government overreach and an infringement on individual freedoms.

• Ramaswamy’s company made more than $2 billion dollars on vaccines and he even supported government mandated testing to find out the rate of immunity.

• The scientific distinctions that Ramaswamy is talking about would have required mandatory testing, then a government registry of your antibody status to keep track of who was safe to resume normal life and segregation for those who did not have immunity.

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“We are welcoming Republicans, independents, and Democrats to this campaign. Our message is not… a partisan one. We are working to lower costs for Ohio families and get our state turned around.”

COLUMBUS, OH – With all eyes on Ohio and competitive elections in every corner of our state up and down the ballot, Ohioans are reading about how the Ohio Democratic Party launched the historic OhioWins coordinated campaign. This campaign will be mobilizing in all 88 counties to elect Democrats who will lower costs for Ohio families, protect Ohioans’ freedoms, and grow our state, and will also work tirelessly to educate voters and protect Ohioans’ right to vote.

Read more below about the launch of the OhioWins coordinated campaign from Statehouse News Bureau and an opinion piece featured in the Columbus Dispatch penned by Ohio Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Clyde:

Columbus Dispatch: Democrats have a solid plan to win Ohio. It has Republicans spending like crazy | Opinion

• From sky-high costs for nearly every aspect of daily life to the feeling that our freedoms and even our right to vote are more at risk than ever before, Ohioans know that we need to get our state back on track, and they are already turning out at historic rates for our strong Democratic candidates.
• Ohio Democrats have launched our OhioWins coordinated campaign to build on that momentum, and to connect with Ohioans of all political backgrounds around our mission to elect Democratic leaders who will lower costs, protect our freedoms and improve life for the many families across our state who are struggling.
• This election will play a critical role in deciding our state’s future, and our country’s future, too – that’s why national Republicans are spending more here than in any other state in the country to try to beat Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is fighting to reform a rigged system to help hardworking Ohioans.
• It’s why Vivek Ramaswamy is already spending millions of dollars attacking Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton, a leader with one-of-a-kind bipartisan credentials who knows firsthand what it’s like to grow up under tough circumstances and has the commonsense vision to support Ohio families.
• We need leaders who will work tirelessly to make things better, not politicians like Republican Sen. Jon Husted who voted nine times against lowering health care costs and put rural hospitals at risk to pay for tax breaks for corporate special interests and billionaires – and who was at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history that has raised utility rates by $663 a year.
• Not billionaire Washington insiders – like Ramaswamy who flies around on his private jet touting his plans to consolidate Ohio’s incredible colleges and universities, and who called Ohio workers “lazy,” said the Medicare and Medicaid that Ohioans rely on is a “mistake,” and claimed the high “perceived” cost of living is only in Ohioans’ imagination.
• This OhioWins coordinated campaign isn’t just for Democrats – it’s for Republicans and Independents too. As we’ve seen across the country in recent months, in blue, purple and red communities – even the state House district that’s home to Mar-a-Lago – voters are connecting with our winning message and electing Democratic leaders who are running to lower costs.
• Ohioans are going to send that message loud and clear come November – because when Ohio elects Democratic leaders who will lower costs and protect our freedoms, OhioWins.

Statehouse News Bureau: Forward to fall: Democrats investing in new voter outreach as Republicans work to hold Ohio

• Democrats in Ohio think this year they will turn the state from red to blue…or at least to purple. And part of that effort is a new coordinated campaign the state party is pursing. But they’ll be fighting Republicans who will be working to hang onto control of the state.
• “We saw a historic turnout on the Democratic gubernatorial primary, higher voter turnout,” Clyde said in an interview. “The highest voter turnout that we’ve seen since 2006, which was a strong year for Democrats, winning all of the statewide offices except for one.”
• Clyde said the “Ohio Wins” campaign will use a state-of-the-art data and analytics team to ensure voter contact efforts are microtargeted to specific voters, along with a website to keep voters informed and allow them to volunteer to be part of the process. Clyde said the party has been out talking to voters in all 88 counties, including in areas where it hasn’t been strong, including rural areas and cities where support has dropped off in recent years.
• “We are staffing up, we have staff deployed around the state, and we’ll be increasing that presence, doing a strong field operation, voter protection, data and operations, and doing the work to get our message out to voters all across the state,” Clyde said, noting 20 staff members have been hired—most from Ohio—and more will be. “We are welcoming Republicans, independents, and Democrats, to, this campaign. Our message is not a necessarily a partisan one. We are working to lower costs for Ohio families and get our state turned around.”
• Clyde said there will be a record-setting investment in infrastructure to protect ballot access, including the hiring of a voter access director.

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COLUMBUS, OHIO — New reporting shows that Jon Husted hired an opioid and utilities lobbyist as a “senior advisor” in his office. The report reveals that before joining Husted’s office, the lobbyist’s clients “made millions” off the House Bill 6 scandal, which resulted in a billion dollar bailout for utilities that’s contributing to families paying thousands of dollars more on their energy bills.

As a reminder, Jon Husted remains at the center of the massive FirstEnergy corruption scandal, with new reporting from the Associated Press revealing Husted’s ties to be much deeper than previously known.

See For Yourself: 

Ohio Capital Journal: Top Husted aide lobbied for Ohio utility that profited from corrupt law

• When Husted reached the Senate five years later, one of his first moves was to hire as a top advisor a longtime utility lobbyist. 

• The lobbyist’s client made millions off the scheme at the heart of the 2020 utility scandal. The same lobbyist had also represented a massive drug wholesaler that had paid out millions to settle claims that it had negligently distributed vast amounts of opioids in addiction-ravaged Ohio.

• Husted’s decision to hire the lobbyist, Sean Dunn, has some questioning whether average Ohioans’ welfare is Husted’s top priority.

• “It’s tone deaf because he’s an elected official who doesn’t see how cozy relationships can compromise his decision making,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, which advocates for accountable government. “Or he sees a benefit to these very cozy relationships.”

• According to disclosures filed with the Ohio Lobbying Activity Center, Dunn began lobbying for AES in 2009 and did so until February 2025.

• During that time, Dunn lobbied the state legislature and the executive branch on numerous measures relating to Ohio House Bill 6, the 2019 law that was the product of what one federal prosecutor said was “likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme ever in the state of Ohio.”

• In addition to Dunn’s ties to AES, he also lobbied on behalf of Dublin-based Cardinal Health, one of the three largest prescription-drug wholesalers in the United States. Dunn’s engagement with the company ran from 2009 to 2019.

• Federal enforcement actions and government lawsuits against the drug wholesaler alleged that Cardinal frequently ignored “blatantly suspicious orders” as it shipped billions of opioid pills into Ohio and other U.S. states.

• Disclosures also show that Dunn made $895,000 in the 15 months before he joined Husted’s team and was owed between $1 million and $5 million by his old firm. 

• Husted’s office was asked what the senator was doing to relieve the affordability crisis, and to explain his decision to hire as a top advisor someone who’d grown wealthy lobbying on behalf of some of the industries driving the crisis.

• It didn’t answer.

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Husted: “People living in poverty are just not very, they’re not very experienced at navigating the real world”

LIMA, OHIO — Today, Ohioans in Lima gathered for the sixth stop of Husted’s Real World Tour, calling out Jon Husted for his out of touch attacks on hardworking families.

Ohioans are already struggling with high grocery and utility prices because of Jon Husted’s corruption, and the skyrocketing cost of gas caused by the Husted-backed Iran war is forcing families to cut back even more. Instead of working to lower costs, Jon Husted has insulted struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and dismissed the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

“I was born and raised on the south end of town where mom and dad had to work very hard to get where they are. Jon Husted’s comments about struggling people not knowing how to ‘navigate the real world’ are disappointing. These are people waking up every day, doing everything they can do to survive in an economy that has become much harder. Jon Husted is the one who’s out of touch,” said Lima City Council President Jamie Dixon. 

“Jon Husted has caused the problems that make it harder to navigate the real world. The problem is, Husted led the charge to give utility companies billion dollar tax breaks while everyday families struggled to pay the bills. On the way home last night, I saw gas at over $5 a gallon. Husted also voted nine times to increase health care premiums. Jon Husted, you’re the one that’s out of touch,” said Jeff Adams, President of UAW Local 1219.

“Jon Husted is telling Ohioans to have a better work ethic. I still go out and work. I still go do community service. Jon Husted needs to understand that — that we’re not lazy, and we’re not trying to beat the system,” said Jeff Givans, candidate for Ohio House of Representatives. 

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COLUMBUS, OH – Despite more than 90% of Ohio teachers being in a union, Republican candidate for Congress in OH-13 Carey Coleman is launching his general election campaign by telling Ohio Teachers Unions to “go to hell.”

“Carey Coleman telling the over 90% of Ohio teachers who belong to a union to ‘go to hell,’ is not only offensive, but it’s reflective of a politician who doesn’t value our educators and doesn’t care about supporting Ohio students,” said Ohio Democratic Party Communications Director Marisa Nahem. “Ohio educators not only teach students in the classroom, they support students in after school programs, on the playing field, and in gaining the skills to help them to be successful in wherever their future takes them, whether that be college, trade school, military service, and more. Coleman is the wrong leader for Northeast Ohio – and while he told Ohio educators to ‘go to hell,’ Ohioans are going to send him a message too come November.”

In case you missed it, read more on Coleman’s message to Ohio educators as he kicks off the general election:

TiffinOhio: Ohio GOP congressional candidate vowed teachers’ unions can ‘go to hell’ 

• Carey Coleman won the Republican primary for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District on May 5 — National Teacher Day — and the newly minted GOP nominee is heading into the general election with on-camera comments telling teachers’ unions to “go to hell.”

• A recording from Coleman’s campaign launch event, reviewed by TiffinOhio.net, captured him saying he wanted “to make damn sure if I have any ability in Congress to enact policy to tell these, for one, national teachers unions to go to hell.” In the same remarks, he accused the unions of having “hijacked our education.”

• 91.7% of Ohio teachers are union members

• If Coleman’s pledge is meant as a policy goal, it would put him at odds with the overwhelming majority of Ohio’s public school workforce. The most recent state-level figures from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Teacher and Principal Survey show 91.7% of Ohio public school teachers were members of a union or similar employee association in 2017-18 — among the highest rates in the country and well above the national figure of 69.4%.

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When asked about skyrocketing gas prices for Ohioans, Husted “declined to comment”

COLUMBUS, OHIO — This week, Jon Husted voted for the seventh time to support the Administration’s war in Iran, continuing to back the expensive foreign intervention in the Middle East that has sent costs skyrocketing for Ohioans.

Because of the Husted-backed war, Ohioans are being hit by soaring gas prices, and farmers are getting crushed by rising diesel and fertilizer costs, which will raise the price of groceries. Despite all this, Husted thinks the war is “good news for the global economy” and going “much better than anyone thought it would.”

Ohio Democratic Party Senior Communications Advisor Tony Wen released the following statement:

“Jon Husted has now had seven chances to stand up for Ohio families and farmers and fight to lower costs, but every time he has voted to support the endless war in the Middle East. Ohioans are getting crushed by higher gas and food prices, but all Jon Husted’s only answer is to send more money overseas while lecturing families to work harder and earn more money.”

The Husted-backed war in Iran is crushing Ohio families and farmers:

• Ohioans are being hit by soaring gas prices, and farmers are getting crushed by rising diesel and fertilizer costs, which will raise the price of groceries.

• Jon Husted has voted seven times to continue the war in Iran while costs continue to skyrocket.

• Jon Husted has claimed that he thinks the war is “good news for the global economy” and going “much better than anyone thought it would.”

• When asked about the pain that Ohio families are feeling at the pump, Jon Husted’s campaign “declined to comment.”

• Jon Husted continues to insult struggling Ohioans as “not very experienced at navigating the real world” and consistently dismisses the mounting affordability crisis by telling Ohioans to fix their “work ethic” and to simply “earn more” money to make ends meet.

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