While data centers in Ohio cost taxpayers up to $1.6 billion, Jon Husted backed them and filled his pockets with their money. Husted also supported giving tax breaks to data center owners such as Amazon and Google. And when Ohioans suffered, he blamed them for the negative impact data centers had and said, “look in the mirror.”
[AUDIO] Husted Supported The Construction Of Data Centers, Claiming They Offered Employment For Ohioans. “I mean, I'll tell you, you hear about of these data centers, you know, that are built. Yeah. Okay. You know who serves those electricians? H vac specialists. Because they have so much electricity they use, they need to keep them cool. It's like when you hear high tech, it's like, well, that's an electrician. That's an HD AC specialist. These are these are the kinds of jobs that come with all of this construction and all of these facilities. And they pay great. I mean, these are these are jobs are going to be there. They have great pay. You don't have to go to college. You can earn skills while you're in high school or as a recent graduate or even mid-career changes. There's so many jobs out there in this space, and I can't emphasize that enough.” [Columbus Morning News, Ohio, 11/14/22]
[AUDIO] Husted Claimed That Data Centers Created Jobs And Local Revenue. “Some people have said that they want them because of all the jobs that they've created. There's tens of thousands of construction jobs that they've created that that they get money for their local schools. And in some poor rural areas, they don't have a tax base. You get one of these facilities there and it generates a lot of revenue. But it's a local issue.” [Strictly Speaking Unfiltered With Bob Frantz, 7/22/26]
[VIDEO] Husted Touted Data Center Investment From Companies Like Amazon And Google In Ohio. “The one we had in Columbus, a lot of energy around chips and the cloud. You know, we've got some of those here today Amazon, Google, MetLife, Microsoft and others investing a lot in data centers around central Ohio to make it easy and process for the Midwest. And today, we're finding out from the collective conversation where we think Cincinnati's region can go. And I hope that you learn a lot. That's the goal. People are going to learn a lot.” [OH AI Forum, 8/21/23]
Husted Celebrated Google’s $2.3 Billion Data Center And Its $30 Million Tax Break. According to Cleveland.com, “Jon Husted spent years rolling out the red carpet for data centers in Ohio. He cut ribbon after ribbon, issued press release after press release, and handed out tax breaks that would make your head spin[...] In 2024 alone, Husted stood alongside Google executives to celebrate a $2.3 billion data center investment in central Ohio, hailing the company as proof that the state was becoming a major tech hub. What he didn’t advertise at the podium: Ohio had granted Google, Amazon, and Meta a 100% sales tax exemption for up to 40 years, Johnston said. For Google, that breaks down to roughly $30 million in tax breaks per job created.” [Cleveland.com, 7/22/26]
Husted’s Utility Company Allies Profited From His Support For Data Centers. According to Cleveland.com, “Ohio now hosts more than 200 data centers, making it one of the national leaders. Those centers are power-hungry by design, and the strain on the electrical grid has been enormous. Utility companies — longtime political allies of both Husted and DeWine — have profited handsomely, while ordinary Ohioans have watched their electric bills climb. Quinn asked where Husted’s desire to regulate the data centers was when he was bringing them to Ohio by the dozen.” [Cleveland.com, 7/22/26]
Husted Claimed That Data Centers Were Essential To Our Lives. According to Data Center Dynamic, “‘Data centers are essential to our digital lives and Google’s additional multibillion-dollar investment further establishes central Ohio as an important tech hub in America,’ wrote Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted in a statement.” [Data Center Dynamic, 6/20/24]
[AUDIO] Husted Claimed That Data Centers Were Needed For The “Digital World” We Currently Live In. “Well, but Bob, I also want to but I also want to interject something. It's not just a I it's not just say this. This conversation we're having requires the use of the data center. Okay. When you call something on your phone, when you scroll on your on on your social media, when you when you look at a streaming video that goes through a data center, it's like, if we didn't have this digital world, we wouldn't need them. So we are the cause of the demand, all of us who are using these different tools. And so we have to understand how why they exist, what their role is.” [Strictly Speaking Unfiltered With Bob Frantz, 7/22/26]
Husted Claimed That Ending Tax Breaks For Future Projects Wouldn’t Create A “Fair Playing Field” Since Existing Ones Would Still Get It. According to Signal Akron, “Asked about the move, Husted seemed to agree with his former boss. He said ending the tax break for future projects wouldn’t create a ‘fair playing field’ since existing ones would still get it.” [Akron Signal, 7/18/25]
Husted Claimed That Data Centers Were Key To The National Interest In Leading On AI And That The Investments Were Needed For Ohio To Be A Leader. According to Signal Akron, “He also said data centers are key to the national interest in leading on artificial intelligence development. ‘If Ohio wants to be a leader, a leading edge tech state in the Midwest, having those kinds of investments in the state is important,’ Husted said.” [Akron Signal, 7/18/25]
Husted Supported Tax Breaks For Data Center Development. According to Punchbowl News, “Husted has also been the target of criticism for taking donations from hyperscalers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft. During his lieutenant governor years before entering the Senate in 2025, Husted hailed Ohio’s tax breaks for a Google data center investment in the state. As recently as last Summer, Husted said the state’s incentives would ensure Ohio is ‘a leading edge tech state in the Midwest.’” [Punchbowl News, 7/26/26]
Husted Oversaw And Supported A Property Tax Abatement And Sales Tax Exemption For Google To Build Data Centers In Ohio. According to Tiffin Ohio, “In November 2019, Google secured two separate incentives for a central Ohio data center: a 15-year abatement on New Albany property taxes, and a 15-year state sales tax exemption estimated at $43.5 million and approved by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority[...] Husted defended the incentives at the time and said the economic return would outweigh the cost. He said the investment would fuel the state’s economy for years and give Ohio a case to make globally, adding that when the question is where the tech hub of the Midwest is, he believed the answer would be Columbus. He also said charging sales tax would have driven Google out of Ohio.” [Tiffin Ohio, 7/27/26]
[AUDIO] Husted Blamed Citizens For The Data Center Demand. “But we just have to realize, you know, we're in this world in which we are we've created the demand. We the people have created the demand for these data centers because we use all of these digital products that it processes. And and if we don't want them, then don't use them. And I mean, you can you can go back to to the bunny ears antenna on your TV. You don't need a data center. But if you're connected to a wire, you're using the data center. So understand, like when we look in the mirror, we are the problem.” [Strictly Speaking Unfiltered With Bob Frantz, 7/22/26]
Tiffin Ohio: Jon Husted Defended Google's $43.5 Million Ohio Tax Break. Now He's Taken $69,750 From Data Center And Utility Interests. [Tiffin Ohio, 7/27/26]
Husted Took Donations From Amazon, Microsoft, And Google, Which Have Built Data Centers in Ohio. According to Punchbowl News, “Data centers are making the lives of incumbents very hard this election year. Few policy issues have united both sides of the electorate more than opposition to the U.S. data center boom powered by the artificial intelligence buildout. For a sense of the political minefield candidates are navigating, look no further than Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) [...] Husted is having to grapple with his position on data centers as Brown, an ardent populist, is airing ads claiming the Republican is ‘the face of data centers’ in the state. Husted has also been the target of criticism for taking donations from hyperscalers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft. During his lieutenant governor years before entering the Senate in 2025, Husted hailed Ohio’s tax breaks for a Google data center investment in the state. As recently as last Summer, Husted said the state’s incentives would ensure Ohio is ‘a leading edge tech state in the Midwest.’” [Punchbowl News, 7/26/26]
Ohioans Had an Average 17 Percent Utility Bill Increase In Part Due To Data Centers Pushing Energy Demand. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, “Average Ohio residential utility bills are now projected to be about $800 for the summer, a new report says. That’s a 17% increase over the $682 Ohioans paid last summer, said the report, by Washington, D.C.-based Third Way. The estimates are of total average electricity costs from June to September. They were done using data from Heatmap News, which collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create the Electricity Price Hub. ‘The United States is currently experiencing record energy demand driven by data center growth, domestic manufacturing, and electrification,’ the report said. ‘And we simply aren’t bringing on new energy quickly enough or in large enough quantities to affordably meet rising demand.’” [Ohio Capital Journal, 7/7/26]
Last Summer, Ohio’s Electric Prices Spiked By 108% Due To Data Centers. According to the Ohio Capital Journal, “The estimated increase in Ohioans’ electricity bills comes after a big jump last year. Between May and July 2025, they saw a 108% spike, the report said.” [Ohio Capital Journal, 7/7/26]
Ohio Plastic Manufacturer Saw Their Energy Costs Increase By One Million Dollars. According to Reuters, “Capacity charges at plastic products manufacturer Plaskolite jumped to $1.2 million annually from $200,000 a year earlier at its combined Pennsylvania and Ohio facilities. The company is considering shifting from using the grid to powering its operations with a direct natural gas feed, said Timothy Ling, Plaskolite's senior environmental director. ‘Electricity has become the highest-drama form of energy,’ Ling said.” [Reuters, 7/7/26]
Belden Brick Company Saw Their Electricity Bill Rise By 90%. According to Reuters, “For years, electricity costs for the Belden Brick Company in Sugarcreek, Ohio, had been relatively stable. Last year, they surged by 90% — largely because of rising power demand from data centers in the region. The 141-year-old brick manufacturer, whose products can be found in iconic buildings including the Texas Alamo and Notre Dame University, is seeing power bills rise mainly from a monthly capacity charge, which recently jumped from $1,600 a month to $12,000.” [Reuters, 7/7/26]
Tax Breaks for Data Centers Cost Ohio Over $1.6 Billion in Tax Revenue in 2025. According to Signal, “Ohio’s biggest tax break for data centers is more expensive than once thought. A lot more expensive. In 2024, the state sales tax exemption for data centers cost Ohio about $555 million in revenue, four times more than the state Department of Taxation forecasted. In 2025, it cost a whopping $1.6 billion, eleven times more than the original estimate of $136 million And that’s to say nothing of the local sales taxes – another $166.8 million in lost revenue in 2024, according to new actual cost data provided this week by Ohio Department of Taxation spokesperson Andrea Lannom.” [Signal, 5/21/26]