Trump tries to fire up Ohio voters as Republicans defend Senate seat in close race

VANDALIA, Ohio — President Donald Trump traveled on Saturday to a rally in Ohio, where his Republican Party is in a tight race for a Senate ​seat as it tries to retain its narrow congressional majority.

Multiple incumbent Republican senators across the country face tough political headwinds, with Trump's popularity falling in recent months as higher prices persist for gasoline and other staples amid the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

But Sen. Jon Husted, ‌a Republican in a competitive Ohio race against Democrat Sherrod Brown, hopes the president can motivate Trump supporters who might otherwise skip midterm elections.

At the rally, Husted invoked American sacrifice and patriotism.

"I am ⁠not asking you to winter at Valley Forge," Husted told the crowd ​in Vandalia, Ohio, citing episodes from three American wars. "I am not asking ⁠you to serve at Gettysburg. I am not asking you to storm the beaches of Normandy. I'm asking you to get out and vote. Will you ‌do it?"

Brown's campaign did not respond to ‌a request for comment. The Democrat campaigned in Columbus on Saturday.

Although Trump garnered more than 55% of the Ohio vote in ⁠the 2024 presidential election, economic concerns have emerged since then.

Ohio gasoline prices increased 35% over the ⁠past year to $4.16 per gallon on average, according to AAA, which compiles data on automobile travel. Trump's trade policy with Canada has led to retaliatory Canadian tariffs that affect about $3 billion worth of Ohio exports, based on 2025 figures, according to a CBC report.

Talking to reporters shortly before addressing Saturday's rally, Husted said the U.S. has to win the Iran war "on our terms" and in the interim, he is "showing people that I'm fighting for lower prices."

He spoke to a sympathetic crowd at the rally, but he also needs to sell his message to people like independent voter ‌Jonathan Smith.

Smith, a 19-year-old construction worker, held a sign reading, "Where are my lower gas prices?" outside his ​former high school in Vandalia, north of Dayton.

"I've got a wedding to save up for, and with gas prices continuously going up, it's getting harder and harder to put aside money," said Smith, adding he is still deciding who to vote for in the Senate race.

Data centers debate

Trump has pledged 32 days of campaigning leading up to the midterm elections. He started this week in deeply conservative areas such as north Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama that offered the president a warm reception.

The president has said he needs to do a better job of touting the country's economic progress. "Everyone thinks that the prices are high because of me, but they're not," Trump told Texas truck plant workers on Thursday.

Ohio is among eight Senate ​races rated competitive. The state has turned into a campaign battlefield over data centers and culture war issues such as youth transgender surgeries.

Outside political groups have poured tens of millions of dollars ‌into Ohio, making ‌Husted-Brown the second-most expensive Senate race in the ⁠country, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Rallygoers shared mixed opinions on the hot-button issue of data center construction in the state.

"I'm not huge on the AI data centers," Samuel Clevenger, 20, said in an interview discussing Husted's candidacy. But the apprentice plumber said he is encouraged to vote by Trump's attention to the state, as well as his 2025 policy capping taxes on overtime.

On the other side of the rally venue, Brenda White, 60, held a sign encouraging building in ‌her northeastern Ohio town: "DATA CENTER SOUTH LORAIN."

As ​Husted met voters in the bleachers, she urged the senator to support the center's ‌construction in place of a steel mill. "You ⁠want a data center there?" Husted ​asked.

Before White posed for her photo with Husted, a man in the senator's entourage asked: "Can we do it without the sign?"

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