Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (left) and U.S. Senator Jon Husted (right). (Photos from WEWS)
Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown continues to outpace GOP U.S. Sen. Jon Husted in fundraising.
Brown, who served three terms in the chamber, is making a comeback bid after losing his seat in 2024. The latest filings cover the fourth quarter of 2025 and show Brown dramatically outperforming Husted and having a significant cash advantage.
Brown has contributed more than $7.3 million in direct contributions and transfers from other committees. Thanks to pressure from joint fundraising groups, the total increases to $8.8 million. Meanwhile, Husted has raised just over $1.5 million in direct donations and transfers from joint committees.
Brown has almost $10 million in the bank and Husted has just under $6 million.
However, money is not everything. In 2024, Brown defeated his Republican challenger, U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, by a nearly 4-to-1 margin. A flood of outside spending narrowed the gap, and Moreno prevailed even though Brown had a more than two-point lead over Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Lifting and dispensing
Most of Brown’s donations come from individual, miniature dollar contributions through the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. In the final months of 2025, Brown raised over $2 million through the organization. Brown’s campaign touts an average donation of about $54 and notes that 18,640 donors have made first-time donations.
“While Jon Husted votes to increase costs for Ohioans to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, Sherrod is fighting to lower grocery and health care prices and protect Ohio jobs and small businesses,” campaign manager Patrick Eisenhauer said in a press release. “That’s why, almost a year before the election, nearly 45,000 Ohioans have already joined the campaign.”
Brown has raised just over $6 million in direct donations from individuals and organizations. He earned about $3 million more in transfers from joint fundraising efforts with the Ohio Democratic Party, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and other groups.
While Brown outperforms Husted, he also outspends the incumbent. In the last quarter of 2025, Brown spent about $3.3 million. One-third of that amount was allocated to campaign advertising, and another million in campaign funding was allocated to text messages and direct mail.
Husted, on the other hand, made sure the powder was dehydrated. Overall, it spent only about half a million dollars in the last quarter of 2025. The largest spending in his campaign came from companies conducting surveys or consulting on digital strategy.
In terms of external expenditure, there was very little of it at this early stage of the competition. During the three months covered by this report, only two expenses were incurred totaling approximately $64,000. They both paid for online advertising to support Husted. Each was paid for by the Republican Party’s Senate Leadership Fund.
Husted has raised just over $1.1 million in direct donations from individuals and groups. The Capital Journal requested but did not receive comment on Husted’s campaign. Much of that funding flowed through the Republican fundraising platform WinRed. Husted’s campaign also received assist from joint fundraising committees with other Republican U.S. senators and the state Republican Party. Thanks to these collaborative efforts, Husted’s profits increased by approximately $392,000.
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