Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio's special U.S. Senate election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to projections from the Associated Press, NBC News and Fox News.

The outcome caps a political comeback for Brown, 73, who lost his Senate seat to Republican Bernie Moreno by about 3.5 percentage points in 2024. Brown will serve the remaining two years of the term Vice President JD Vance won in 2022. The seat returns to the ballot in 2028 for a full six-year term.

Hilliard voters turned out in force

Polling sites across Franklin County saw heavy traffic on Nov. 3. By 5 p.m., half the county's registered voters had cast ballots, WOSU reported.

At a busy Hilliard polling location, voter Megan Combs said she cast her ballot for Brown and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton.

Hilliard resident Ray Conley took a more weary view of the election. "I just wanted to get it over with so the ads can stop," Conley said, according to WOSU.

Their fatigue was understandable. Advertising spending and reservations in the Senate race topped $500 million, according to political advertising analytics company AdImpact. Only two other nonpresidential races have crossed that mark: Ohio's own 2024 Senate contest and this year's Texas Senate race, NBC4 reported.

How the race shaped up

The Nov. 3 special election was triggered after Vance resigned his Senate seat to become vice president in January 2025. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Husted, then Ohio's lieutenant governor, to fill the vacancy.

Brown, who previously served three Senate terms, built his campaign around affordability, prescription drug costs and data center development. He accused Husted of supporting tax incentives for data centers that could raise electricity bills for Ohio families.

Husted, 59, emphasized his economic development record and backed the Republican tax package that eliminated federal income taxes on certain tips and overtime earnings. He carried endorsements from President Donald Trump and the National Border Patrol Council.

Data centers emerged as a defining issue. A leaked National Republican Senatorial Committee memo called the topic "the anchor hanging around Husted's neck," the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

Outside money flooded the contest. The cryptocurrency industry spent about $54 million supporting Husted, according to Spectrum News 1, topping the $40 million it spent in 2024 to help defeat Brown. Elon Musk funneled more than $7 million to independent groups backing Husted, the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

Local statehouse race

Closer to home, Democratic incumbent Crystal Lett of Hilliard held a wide lead over Republican Shawn Kaeser of Dublin in the Ohio House District 11 race, which covers Hilliard and Dublin. Early unofficial results from the Franklin County Board of Elections showed Lett with about 64% of 40,118 votes counted as of 9:59 p.m., the Columbus Dispatch reported. Lett, 40, a mental health professional, is in her first term in the Ohio House.