Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted files for re-election in 2026 race

First on Fox: Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted formally filed his papers to run for re-election on Friday, capping a launch week that highlighted his campaign goals in a race expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched Senate races in the country.

Husted says he filed “because a lot of people in Washington have forgotten what it’s like to live, work and raise a family in Ohio,” adding that his campaign will focus on cutting costs, creating jobs, securing the border, and “making America affordable again.”

Husted’s filing capped a fast-moving week in which he released a new campaign video, his first ad and a full leadership list of 112 county campaign chairs representing all 88 Ohio counties — an unusually large infrastructure rollout this early in the cycle.

Husted’s team includes 23 county commissioners, 20 GOP county chairs, nine mayors, seven mayors and five state legislators.

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Husted enters the 2026 cycle with the support of former President Donald Trump, whom he recently described as a “reliable conservative” who “always serves the state of Ohio.”

The Ohio senator’s campaign says the senator’s early introduction, along with his hiring of statewide staff, is intended to send a clear message: He’s running hard, early, and everywhere.

“My focus is providing services to working families in Ohio,” Husted said. “That will not change in this campaign, and it will not change in my next term.”

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Former Senator Sherrod Brown is seen on November 4, 2024 in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. (Stephen Maturin/Getty Images)

Husted was appointed to the Senate by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to replace J.D. Vance after the young senator left office to become Trump’s vice president.

Husted, a former Ohio lieutenant governor, will compete against former Ohio Democrats. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year.

Brown, a veteran Democrat who has held statewide office for decades, is expected to position his campaign around protecting union jobs, defending Social Security and Medicare, and confronting what he calls “corporate greed.”

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Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine speaks at a press conference on Friday, January 17, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smith)

Meanwhile, Husted’s team is preparing to portray Brown as a Washington insider out of touch with Ohio’s economic and cultural concerns, similar to the narrative Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno used to successfully impeach Brown last year.

“Ohio needs a conservative champion, Jon Husted, in the U.S. Senate,” says the narrator in Husted’s first campaign ad released earlier this week.