If Jon Husted Takes Vance’s Senate Seat, He Is a Political Coward (and Closeted NeverTrumper No Matter What He Says)

I don’t mean to pick on Husted, but his personal political success has absolutely NOT come with measurable positive policy results for Ohioans. He gets a Senate seat. What do we get?

I get it. Politicians are all about self-preservation and staying on the government teat for as long as possible. They mask that reality with campaign slogans and promises to do X, Y, and Z, but know that voters rarely will actually hold them accountable when they don’t do any of those things. They also know that getting elected to their first big office is the key, as the power of incumbency comes with campaign money from lobbyists, corporations, and swooning wealthy donors mesmerized by titles. Once in, they can maneuver thereafter to remain in office.

Jon Husted is Ohio’s shining star example of this practice.

After wallowing in the Dayton area, Husted got himself selected for an Ohio House seat in 2000 where he faced no primary opponent in a heavily Republican seat. Once elected, he again faced no primary opponents in 2002 and 2004. Due to term limits, Husted then maneuvered for an Ohio Senate seat where he again faced no primary opponent. After just two years in the Ohio Senate, Husted decided to jump to the Secretary of State’s Office where he faced the unknown Sandy O’Brien in a primary in which the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) endorsed him. The ORP endorsement came with being listed on the sample ballot mailed to all Republican primary voters, so Husted knew he functionally was running unopposed (again). He ran unopposed in the Republican primary in 2014. So, after eighteen years, with the full backing of the ORP, Husted had to face one underfunded and unknown primary opponent. Nice gig if you can get it.

Things got interesting and revealing in 2018. And it is when Husted showed us his lack of political courage and belief in his ability to convince a plurality of Ohioans that he was the right person to lead them.

Specifically, when facing a primary election for governor against former U.S. Senator-former Lieutenant Governor-then Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and former U.S. House Member Jim Renacci, Husted folded like a wet paper sack by becoming DeWine’s Lieutenant Governor running mate. After spending eighteen years preparing to be governor and several years raising money to do so, Husted opted to spend eight more years as DeWine’s second fiddle hoping beyond hope that other politicians and the wealthy donor class would conclude it was “his turn” to be governor in 2026. Where did his belief in his agenda for Ohio and his abilities as a candidate to defeat DeWine and Renacci go? They crashed against the rocks of DeWine’s $100 million inherited wealth and much higher name ID and Renacci’s $40 million personal fortune. Husted figured it was better to bide his time for eight years as Lieutenant Governor than be forced to get a real job upon losing the 2018 Republican primary.

So, Husted spent the last six years as DeWine’s loyal lapdog, as he used taxpayer resources to travel around the state to give speeches, woo donors, raise his name ID for the 2026 race, and unwisely shut down Ohio severely during the pandemic. He enriched himself by exploiting a loophole in state law by becoming the ONLY governor or lieutenant governor in America to add a private sector job to their state government jobs when he became a paid member of two corporate boards riddled with potential conflicts of interests that taxpayers would have to pay to monitor. Husted pushed for $2 billion in taxpayer money to be used to bribe Intel to come to Ohio hoping a grand opening of its manufacturing hub in 2026 would usher in his coronation as governor (now delayed two years, if ever). Husted told any donor who would listen that he was running for governor in 2026 with an agenda one has to assume he believed would be good for Ohio (it is honestly hard to know that because the DeWine-Husted tenure has been so bad re pathetic job growth, tepid population growth, severe educational losses, growing Medicaid rolls, skyrocketing state spending, and the like).

With news that Husted is the top choice for J.D. Vance’s U.S. Senate seat (as I predicted he would be months ago), however, Husted’s 2026 gubernatorial pursuit appears to be going poof in the night (though he could always pull a DeWine and run for governor in his 70s). Why in the world would the clear frontrunner among those who have announced they are running (Ohio AG Dave Yost and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague) with a $4 million war chest who has pursued the governor’s office for twenty-five years suddenly decide his vital agenda for Ohio where he’d have a supermajority Republican legislature to rubber-stamp his policies turn-on-a-dime and decide that he was needed in Washington, D.C., to become one of 100 U.S. Senators where getting things done is very hard? For those of you who recall, when I explored a run for governor in 2023, I unequivocally dismissed any inquiry from Ohioans about running for the U.S. House or the U.S. Senate instead. I had a bold color agenda for Ohio that I believed was (and is) desperately needed to move Ohio from a dead state walking to a national leader. I only explored a run because I didn’t think Husted, Yost, or Sprague (or any other career politician) would push a bold color agenda. When Trump won in November, people asked me about filling Vance’s seat, which I again dismissed as I am a doer would who suffocate in a legislative chamber where little gets done. If I thought I could raise the money to win the governor’s race, I would still be in it. That is how firm my conviction was about fixing Ohio. One would assume given his twenty-five year pursuit and near unanimous backing by wealthy Republican donors, Husted, too, would be firm in his gubernatorial conviction.

So, why might Husted abandon his quarter-century pursuit of becoming Ohio’s governor? Well, Husted has 500 million reasons to nix it. Once again, he knows he may face an opponent who has the personal wealth to easily overcome his war chest and who has name ID far greater than he has. Husted knows he would finally be in a tough fight for his political career where term limits prevent him from hiding as the Lieutenant Governor again. Husted and his handlers know that with Vance now becoming Vice President, Vance has the inside track to the 2028 Republican Presidential Nomination. That fact meant that Vivek Ramaswamy has to bide his time to run for president to 2032 (if Vance lost in 2028) or 2036 (if Vance won in 2028). We have to assume that Ramaswamy didn’t spend $40 million of his own money to run for president in 2024 just for the hell of it. It is a job he wants. Ramaswamy now needs a place to build a record to ensure that his second run for the White House is far more successful than his first run. There is no better place to build that record than the governor’s office from 2027 to 2035. If Husted's goal is solely to remain in politics, he clearly would decide a bird in the hand (Vance’s vacancy seat today) is far better than two in the bush (a grueling political fight against Ramaswamy in 2026).

You see, for Husted (and so many Ohio politicians) it has never been about making Ohio great or stronger or better. It has always been about remaining on the taxpayer’s teat for as long as possible doing as little as possible to become as wealthy as possible (I estimate Husted has been paid over $2.4 million by taxpayers since 2000 not including health care costs, sick and personal days banked, and his multi-million dollar government pension). Husted and his ilk are so far beyond their Peter Principle level based on their actual talent and abilities that they know they’ve made far more doing so little in politics than they ever could have earned in the private sector. If it WAS about making Ohio great or stronger or better, than Husted and all of those career politicians in statewide office and the Ohio General Assembly would have adopted the bold color policies I have laid out over the last sixteen years (see the 1,300+ posts at www.opportunityohio.org). They don’t refute the data I rely upon to make the case for those policies. They don’t refute the validity of those policies (they can’t because they are working in other states). Ohio hasn’t gotten better. They just hope to God voters don’t realize how little they do to make Ohio truly competitive, vibrant, and prosperous. Unfortunately, so far, their dreams have come true as voters and wealthy Republican donors keep backing them in spite of the piss poor results.

I don’t mean to pick on Husted, but his personal political success has absolutely NOT come with measurable positive policy results for Ohioans. If he takes Vance's Senate seat, he will get a political job he knows won’t ever face stiff primary competition and will have the financial backing of the National Republican Senate Committee thereby making it a lifetime sinecure. What do we Ohioans get?

P.S. And to make it worse, Husted is a closeted NeverTrumper. He only expresses public support for Trump now because the Republican Party has become Trump’s party. I was in the room in late-October 2016 when Husted laughed out loud at the idea Trump would win the 2016 presidential election, which is why he spent so much time on CNN and MSNBC undercutting Trump as he was sure he would lose. Yes, his conversion looks very similar to Vance’s “road to Damascus” conversion on Trump, but, unlike Vance, Husted has never admitted he was wrong about Trump nor explained why he changed his mind on Trump. Hopefully, he won’t become a Rob Portman-Mike DeWine-type U.S. Senator.

P.P.S. When I decided to abandon my exploratory run for governor in 2023, one of the calculations I made was that Ramaswamy would run and crush me. Based on my time in fifty-six counties talking to thousands of Ohioans, I learned just how mesmerized Republican primary voters are by someone appearing on Fox News (it is actually unhealthy). No matter how good my bold colors agenda for Ohio was, I simply couldn’t compete with Ramaswamy given how often he appeared on Fox News (or his $500 million fortune), so I would have spent three years running for governor only for him to jump in after his DOGE assignment in July 2026 and drown me in his Fox News tsunami. At the end of the day, I am hoping Ramaswamy adopts my bold color agenda for Ohio. As they say, there is much you can get done if you don’t care who gets the credit. He can take the credit all the way to the White House so long as Ohio thrives.

P.P.S.S. As a great indicator of inflation, back in January 2021, I switched health insurance carries. My monthly premium was $489.00 per month. In the fours years of coverage spanning the start and end of the Biden Administration, I have used my health insurance for preventive care only (i.e., no emergencies or optional activities). I workout every day, walk on average over 10,000 steps daily, take no prescription medications, and my annual physical results indicate I am in excellent health. Thus, nothing about my profile caused my premium increases. Starting this month, my health insurance premium is now $706.00 per month. That four-year jump of $207.00 equates to a 44.4% increase, or 11.1% per year growth. Thankfully, I can afford it, but most Americans cannot, with many of them facing health issues in which they will incur skyrocketing costs. That anecdote is why Trump just won a second term.

P.P.P.S.S. Sorry, Cleveland Browns fans, you cannot convince me Baker Mayfield isn’t awesome. The guy is just a gamer who would do anything for his teammates. I love that he is killing it for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With my terrible Jerry Jones-led Cowboys out, I’m rooting for Mayfield and the Bucs to make it to the Super Bowl.