Democrat Sherrod Brown defeated Republican Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio's special U.S. Senate election on Nov. 3, the Associated Press projected with 87% of the vote counted.

Brown, a three-term senator who lost his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, will return to Washington to serve the remaining two years of Vice President JD Vance's term, which runs through January 2029.

The result lands in Warren County, a reliably Republican area, as part of a statewide shift. Closer to home, Republican state Rep. Adam Mathews held his 56th Ohio Statehouse District seat, which covers southwest and central Warren County including Mason, Lebanon and South Lebanon. Mathews had 54.6% of the vote in early unofficial returns, according to the Springfield News-Sun. U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman also won reelection in the congressional district that includes all of Warren County, the AP called.

How the Senate race played out

With unofficial totals, Brown collected 2,017,362 votes (48.6%) to Husted's 1,928,646 (46.5%). Libertarian William Redpath drew 117,715 votes (2.8%) and independent Greg Levy received 84,287 (2.0%).

Gov. Mike DeWine had appointed Husted, then Ohio's lieutenant governor, to fill Vance's vacancy in January 2025. Brown, 73, ran on a platform centered on affordability, lower prescription drug costs and forcing data center developers to pay for their own utility infrastructure.

Data centers became one of the race's defining issues. Brown criticized tax incentives Husted promoted while lieutenant governor, arguing the facilities drove up electricity costs for Ohio households. A leaked National Republican Senatorial Committee memo, first reported by the Ohio Capital Journal, called data centers "the anchor hanging around Husted's neck."

Husted pushed back, saying he never supported placing data centers in communities that did not want them. He introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would have required state utility commissions to consider making data centers pay for their own energy use, according to 10TV. The bill passed the U.S. House but stalled in the Senate.

Money poured in

The race drew more than $500 million in combined ad spending by campaigns and outside groups, according to the Columbus Dispatch, making it the most expensive Senate contest of the cycle.

Through Sept. 30, Brown's campaign reported raising $61.7 million and spending $56.8 million. Husted's campaign reported raising $19.2 million and spending $10.3 million, according to NBC4. Outside groups spent $198.5 million benefiting Husted and $94.7 million benefiting Brown through Oct. 19, per Federal Election Commission filings.

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

Brown will serve until the January 2029 expiration of Vance's original term. All results remain unofficial.