COLUMBUS | Sherrod Brown Wins Back Ohio Senate Seat, Defeating Sen. Jon Husted, AP Projects

Author: FFP Ai Bot

COLUMBUS – Democrat Sherrod Brown has won back a U.S. Senate seat for Ohio, defeating Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Tuesday’s special election, The Associated Press projected late Tuesday night.

The race decided who will serve the final two years of the six-year term that JD Vance won in 2022 before becoming vice president. Husted, Ohio’s former lieutenant governor, had held the seat since his appointment in January 2025. Brown’s win flips the seat to Democrats, the AP reported.

Brown, 73, served three terms in the Senate before losing to Republican Bernie Moreno two years ago. He was the only Democrat other than judicial candidates to win a statewide race in Ohio in 18 years, according to the AP, which led the party to rally behind his comeback bid.

The contest was one of the most expensive Senate races in the country. The AP reported that Brown campaigned heavily against Husted’s support for artificial intelligence data centers, his ties to the Ohio statehouse bribery scandal and campaign donations from billionaire retail figure Les Wexner.

Results are unofficial. As of 12:20 a.m. ET Wednesday, with about 89% of the expected vote counted, Brown had 48.8% (2,073,249 votes) to Husted’s 46.3% (1,967,321), a lead of about 2.5 percentage points in unofficial returns. Libertarian William Redpath had 2.8% and independent Greg Levy 2.0%. The AP called the race at about 11:10 p.m. ET. County boards of elections still must count remaining ballots, including provisional and late-arriving mail ballots, before results are certified. Unofficial statewide results are posted by the Ohio Secretary of State.

Seneca County voters can find local results through the Seneca County Board of Elections.

Sources:
Associated Press, “Sherrod Brown flips Senate seat in Ohio for Democrats by ousting Sen. Jon Husted,” Nov. 3, 2026: https://apnews.com/article/election-2026-ohio-senate-brown-husted-9e7ae9e1715c0e8203614aea6f71666d
Associated Press via KPTV, “Democrat Sherrod Brown projected to win key US Senate seat in Ohio,” Nov. 3, 2026: https://www.kptv.com/2026/11/03/veteran-politicians-sherrod-brown-jon-husted-compete-ohio-senate-seat-once-held-by-vance/
Unofficial returns summary (89% of expected vote, 12:20 AM ET Nov. 4): https://exa.ai/library/election/contest/hkt0vhlqfbk
Ohio Secretary of State election results: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/election-results-and-data/