OUR COMMUNITIES
DESERVE BETTER
U.S. Senate Candidate Comparison
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate and has been a champion for working-class families. He stands up to greedy corporations and wealthy interests. He is a long-time defender of affordable healthcare and has led efforts to make housing, healthcare, and education more affordable. His work in the Senate has prioritized protecting everyday Ohioans.
Jon Husted
Jon Husted has served as Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor and Senator, playing a major role in bringing data center projects to Ohio and supporting tax incentives for the tech industry. He has supported legislation that slashes Medicaid coverage, SNAP funding, and tax credits for working families in Ohio, at the state and federal levels, doubling down on his commitment to wealthy interests rather than Ohioans.
AFFORDABILITY
Sherrod Brown
The rising cost of groceries– meat, cheese, and eggs – is putting pressure on everyday Ohioans and small businesses. He has also called out the high cost of gas due to the ongoing War, pointing out it is the cause of skyrocketing prices- while his opponent stays silent on the war. Sherrod Brown believes that Ohioans are paying more for basic necessities while corporations and wealthy interests are controlling our government.
Jon Husted
Jon Husted said that people living in poverty aren’t experienced in navigating the real world and that teaching people how to budget will address affordability.
DATA CENTERS
Sherrod Brown
Brown believes that Ohioans shouldn’t be forced to subsidize costs and that Ohioans should decide whether data centers are built in their community, not elected officials and billionaires.
Jon Husted
During his time as lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2025, Jon Husted played a leading role in attracting several billion-dollar data center projects to Ohio. He supported major tax incentives for the industry—including $43.5 million in state incentives for a Google project—and continues to advocate for new data center development.
HEALTHCARE
Sherrod Brown
Brown has a long record of supporting affordable health care, voting for programs like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and expanding government-supported health care. He has also voted against multiple Republican-backed attempts to repeal and roll back the ACA. Brown has campaigned for and defended Ohio’s Medicaid expansion, which extended health coverage to thousands of Ohioans.
Jon Husted
Husted voted against extending tax credits that helped more than 500,000 Ohioans afford health insurance, allowing premiums to rise. After the subsidies expired, more than 160,000 Ohioans lost their ACA coverage—the steepest enrollment decline in the country. He also voted for Medicaid cuts and new bureaucratic requirements projected to take coverage away from approximately 337,000 Ohioans.
FOOD INSECURITY
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen local food systems, sustain nutrition incentives, and expand access to healthy food—and he opposed cuts to SNAP that would take food assistance away from families and children facing hunger.
Jon Husted
Jon Husted said that people living in poverty aren’t experienced in navigating the real world and that teaching people how to budget will address affordability.
EDUCATION
Sherrod Brown
Brown is a longstanding opponent of vouchers. He believes that moving money from public education to religious and other private schools undermines our local public schools. He believes that our public schools have the resources they need.
Jon Husted
Husted supports vouchers, specifically Ohio’s EdChoice, which moves state funding for students to attend private school. As lieutenant governor, he shortchanged public education by nearly $7 billion. He doubled down on his support for vouchers in the Senate.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Sherrod Brown
Brown has supported legislation that would allow students to refinance their debt to lower interest rates. He has also introduced legislation that would trade costly private loans with changing interest rates for fixed-rate federal loans.
Brown is a strong supporter of student-debt relief and has pushed for executive action to cancel student loans, extend paused payments, and even co-sponsored a bill to address high college education costs.
He has also pushed for legislation that would help students understand complex loan agreements with private student lenders.
Jon Husted
Jon Husted voted to eliminate Grad PLUS loans, limit how much students and parents can borrow federally, and replace existing repayment options—potentially pushing more families toward riskier private loans.
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https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/768
https://www.wosu.org/news/2014-04-01/sen-brown-pushes-bill-to-reform-student-loans
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00372.htm
https://www.nasfaa.org/uploads/documents/Federal_Student_Aid_Change_OB3.pdf
HOUSING
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown introduced legislation to lower housing costs by investing in the construction of new affordable homes and apartments, renovating existing properties, and preserving affordable housing before it is demolished, converted, or priced out of reach. He also proposed ending tax breaks for Wall Street investors who buy up large numbers of single-family homes, drive up rents and prices, and make it harder for Ohio families to become homeowners.
Jon Husted
Husted has focused on building more housing rather than directly lowering costs for renters and homebuyers. He supported legislation to streamline regulations and increase the housing supply.
JOBS + WAGES
Sherrod Brown
Brown supports raising the minimum wage to $17 an hour and creating jobs that allow working people to build a middle-class life. Sherrod Brown was a co-sponsor of the PRO Act, which strengthens our workforce and protects our workers.
Jon Husted
Husted voted against the 2025 proposal to raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour by 2030.