CLEVELAND — As voters learn about those running for office in fast-moving 30-second increments squeezed between their favorite television shows or sports matchups, we at News 5 will take time to catch up with the major party hopefuls as they travel the state to talk about what they're seeing and hearing.
On Friday, Republican U.S. Senator Jon Husted, who is being challenged by former Senator Sherrod Brown to fill out the remaining two years of Vice President J.D. Vance's Senate term, spoke with News 5 about what he's hearing as he meets with Ohioans.
"Well, I can tell you our campaign has a lot of enthusiasm," said Husted. "I was in Youngstown yesterday; it went great. People want to get out there, they want to vote, they want me to keep fighting for them, and they want to win."
That said, Husted said he's hearing what voters rank high among their concerns: affordability.
"Well, of course, the economy is always the issue in Ohio. There are three ways you help people make life more affordable: one, you help them earn more by creating good jobs and opportunity. You let them keep more of what they earn to spend and save on their priorities, and then you lower the prices of the things that they need to live and thrive.
"On the first front, Ohio has the most jobs and the lowest unemployment rate in Ohio history, and we're seeing wages rise. The poverty rate is at a record low level. Secondly, with the working family tax cut plan we've allowed families to keep more of what they earned to spend and save on their priorities with no tax on tips, overtime or social security and a $2,200 per child tax credit in which a family of four gets, you know, $4,400 in their pocket to help make ends meet."
A lot of the affordability issues are tied to the war in Iran, which Husted has repeatedly voted to support, telling News 5 he didn't want to undermine the president's ability to negotiate an end to the war. We asked him if he could ever see this conflict reaching a point where he says enough and votes against the president to end it.
"I want the war to come to an end. I want the Strait of Hormuz to be open, and I want gas prices to drop but we need to end the war on America's terms, not Iran's terms," he said. "If Iran has a nuclear weapon and controls the Strait of Hormuz they will hold it over our heads and the rest of the world and gas prices will go up even further after you have to pay tolls to get gas out of the Strait of Hormuz. That cannot happen."
This is Husted's first run for U.S. Senate after a long career in state government in Columbus, which he said operates much differently.
"I've only been in Washington a short period of time and that place is really broken, the culture there is terrible and I want to create more of an Ohio culture where we work together and get things done on a bipartisan basis and we focus on the needs of working families rather than the noise that consumes Washington on a daily basis," he said.
Still, Husted knows a victory in Ohio would likely mean Republicans maintain control of the Senate and allow him to return and continue the work he started.
"My passion project is really the Upward Mobility Act which will end the poverty trap that the federal government created," he said. "People who are on public assistance get trapped there and we need to help them be able to transition to getting a job and getting healthcare benefits and getting a retirement savings so they can thrive but you got to get the federal government out of the way," he said.
News 5 also spoke to Sherrod Brown about what he would do if he wins.
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