Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown released a campaign ad on Sept. 4 attacking Ohio’s growing data center industry and Republican Sen. Jon Husted, but the ad features a facility owned by a company that has funded Brown’s own political career.
The ad shows a data center in Lancaster, Ohio, owned by Google, according to Fox News Digital. In the spot, an Ohioan blames Husted for leading “the push to bring data centers to Ohio” and ties the industry’s growth to “higher electric bills.” The Lancaster facility opened in 2023.
Campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Google’s corporate PAC has given Brown $20,000 over the course of his political career. Brown has also received donations from individuals who lobby for Google, including two whose firms have worked on permitting, grid reliability, and energy affordability issues.
Ohio GOP strategist and attorney Mehek Cooke called out the contradiction in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Apparently, Google is terrible enough to put in a campaign attack ad, but perfectly acceptable when the political contributions are coming in,” Cooke said. “That is the contradiction Brown needs to answer. If Google’s Lancaster investment is so bad for Ohio, why was Google political money acceptable to Sherrod Brown?”
The clash puts data centers, and their effect on power demand and electricity bills, at the heart of an Ohio Senate race. Brown’s ad frames Husted’s support for the industry as a political liability. Republicans, meanwhile, are pointing to Brown’s history of accepting money tied to the very company his ad targets.
Neither Brown’s campaign, Husted’s campaign, nor Google responded to the reporting.
