Senate Democrats just blocked a bill protecting families from data center electricity costs – one that passed the House 417 to 3.
Now Trump and Jon Gruden are in Vandalia, Ohio, and early voting starts Tuesday.
What Gruden said about Jon Husted at that rally could flip this Senate race before anyone sees it coming.
Senate Democrats Blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act and Called It a Fraud
Senator Jon Husted wrote a bill almost everyone in Washington agreed with.
His Ratepayer Protection Act required data center companies to pay for the power infrastructure their massive operations demand – instead of passing those costs on to the public.
The House passed it 417 to 3.
Then it went to the Senate, and Chuck Schumer called it a "fraud."
Only four Senate Democrats crossed the aisle when their colleagues filibustered the bill, leaving it three votes short of the 60 needed to advance.
That is the Senate Democrat position on protecting Ohio families from higher electricity bills: it is a fraud.
"I heard they said they wanted lower electricity prices," Husted said from the Senate floor.
Democrats offered their alternative – the GRID Savings Act – which hands federal bureaucrats control over Ohio's power grid instead of letting the state handle it.
That is Washington deciding Ohio doesn't get a vote on its own electricity.
Jon Gruden and Jon Husted Both Wore the University of Dayton Uniform
Saturday night in Vandalia, Super Bowl winning coach Jon Gruden walked to the microphone and started where he always starts – Ohio.
"I'm from Ohio," Gruden said. "My mom and dad are from Cleveland, I was born in Sandusky, and I went to the University of Dayton – and I'm damn proud of it, man."
Both Gruden and Husted played football at the University of Dayton – and Husted was no benchwarmer.
He was an All-American cornerback and kick returner who started on UD's 1989 NCAA Division III national championship team.
Gruden praised Husted's "work ethic, commitment, and day-to-day mental toughness" – football terms that carry real weight when the man you're describing just fought Democrats on the Senate floor over your electricity bill.
Trump kept the crowd in football mode – Ohio State had beaten Iowa that afternoon – then walked it straight to Washington.
"Now your great Senator introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act to prevent data centers from raising electricity costs and require them to pay their own way," Trump said.
"Almost every single Democrat in the Senate voted to block it."
Trump told them he knew exactly why.
"Only because we wanted it, probably because I wanted it," Trump said.
Democrats are not blocking this bill over the policy – their own House members voted for it 417 to 3.
They are blocking it because Husted is in a tight race, and a win for Husted is a win for Trump.
Ohio Senate Race 2026: Democrats Are Defending a Lie Going Into Early Voting
Democrats spent $7 million telling Ohio that Republicans protect the corporations raising your electricity bill.
Then Republicans put a bill on the Senate floor requiring those exact corporations to pay their own way – and Democrats killed it.
Husted is trailing Sherrod Brown in a state Trump carried by 11 points just two years ago.
Vivek Ramaswamy faces the same problem against Amy Acton in the governor's race.
Schumer called the bill a "fraud."
That is what Democrats are defending as early voting opens Tuesday.
The party that spent $7 million running ads about your electricity bill just voted to keep it high – because handing Jon Husted a win before November 3 was more dangerous to their Senate majority than leaving Ohio families paying the price.
Jon Gruden flew home to say it out loud.
"Before you know it, this election is over," Gruden told the Vandalia crowd.
"Can we be there or not?"
Now it is Ohio's turn.
Sources:
- Carter Schroppe, "Jon Gruden stumps for Ohio Republicans at Trump rally near Dayton," Washington Examiner, October 3, 2026.
- Chad Pergram, "Reporter's Notebook: A guide to the college sports vote and Senate's Ohio showdown," Fox News, September 24, 2026.
- Richard Cowan and Nichola Groom, "US Senate Blocks Bill to Address Data Center Costs," Reuters, September 30, 2026.
- "Democrats dump $7 million in anti-data center messaging in Ohio in hopes of flipping Senate seat," Washington Examiner, October 2026.