Thune Calls Ohio 'Ground Zero' in Fight for Senate Control During Rally With Husted

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., described Ohio as "ground zero" in the battle for control of the Senate on Tuesday night, speaking at a campaign event in Lima alongside Republican Sen. Jon Husted. The election is set for next Tuesday.

The event also featured remarks from Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Thune praised Oz's work to root out waste, fraud and abuse, and said Republicans need to keep their Senate majority so that work can continue.

Thune argued that Husted's victory is what makes that possible. "This is the firewall in the United States Senate," he said, adding that the alternative is two years in which President Trump would face Democrats in both chambers of Congress and "all you'll be doing is investigations."

He pointed to statements from Democratic leaders. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., have signaled they would use subpoena power to investigate Trump and members of his Cabinet. Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Associated Press in September: "We'll use those tools. We'll act like the Congress."

Thune said he expects a Democratic House to impeach the president, which would require a Senate trial. In his words, "the only difference between a 24-hour impeachment trial in the Senate and a 24-month impeachment trial is a Republican majority."

Turning to Husted's opponent, Democrat Sherrod Brown, Thune noted that Brown served as Ohio's senator from 2007 until 2025, when he lost the 2024 election and gave up the seat to Republican Bernie Moreno. Thune called Brown a "rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden."

Thune also lauded Husted as "principled, hardworking, smart and solution-oriented," crediting him with cutting taxes in Ohio as a state legislator and lieutenant governor and again in Washington. He added that the border has been secured, saying no person has been released into the country illegally in 17 months. He closed by calling the contest "a bare knuckles brawl" with the highest of stakes.

Husted acknowledged the race is tight and urged Republican voters to turn out. "This is going to be a close race," he said, comparing the moment to the fourth quarter of a football game. He said the other side wants to intimidate Republicans and make them believe their votes do not matter, and he asked the crowd whether they would let themselves be made to quit.

A recent Fox News survey of likely Ohio voters found Brown with a slight lead, with 52% saying they would vote for him and 47% for Husted. Jeffries, Meeks, Thune, Husted and the Brown campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for further comment.