Sherrod Brown has spent more than $200,000 on a 30-second transgender attack ad aimed at countering Republican criticism in his Senate race against Ohio Republican Jon Husted, according to AdImpact.
The advert seeks to shift the focus away from transgender issues and towards household costs, healthcare and utility bills. It opens with voters in Johnstown, a historically Republican-leaning agricultural hub south of Columbus, and Granville, a Democratic stronghold in a conservative part of the state.
“Here they go again, those same attacks against Sherrod Brown,” one voter says. Another asks: “With everything going on, that’s what they’re talking about?”
What the Sherrod Brown transgender attack ad says
A message displayed over an image of an empty hospital corridor states: “IN OHIO IT’S ILLEGAL TO PERFORM TRANSGENDER SURGERIES ON CHILDREN.” The advert then turns to allegations against Mr Husted, accusing him of contributing to higher grocery costs, removing hundreds of thousands of Ohioans from healthcare and allowing utility companies to raise electricity bills.
It also criticises him over petrol prices. The advert closes with a voter in Johnstown asking: “John Husted, why don’t you start working for us?”
The claim about transgender procedures refers to an Ohio law passed in 2024 over the Republican governor’s veto. It prevents doctors from prescribing medicines to minors seeking gender transitions and restricts transgender girls and women from competing in female sports. The law is being challenged in Ohio’s Supreme Court, which has six Republican justices and one Democrat.
The advert’s suggestion that Mr Husted voted to increase grocery prices is less direct. There was no specific Senate vote on that issue, although he has backed broad tariffs and the war with Iran, among other policies described as contributing to higher prices, including for groceries and petrol.
Mr Husted did vote for President Trump’s main domestic policy bill, which included substantial cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. The bipartisan Joint Economic Committee estimated that 489,815 Ohio residents would lose health insurance as a result, broadly matching the advert’s claim that 490,000 Ohioans had been removed from healthcare.
The reference to electricity bills concerns a 2019 energy law, which Mr Husted was closely involved in passing while serving as lieutenant governor. The measure allowed utility companies to impose additional fees and surcharges to support two struggling nuclear power plants.
That legislation later became central to a major bribery scandal that resulted in the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives being imprisoned. Mr Husted has denied knowing about any wrongdoing.
Mr Brown is running in a high-stakes contest against Mr Husted, who was appointed to fill JD Vance’s Senate seat after Mr Vance became vice president. The Democrat’s campaign is presenting the Republican focus on transgender issues as a distraction from the economic concerns it believes will motivate Ohio voters.
