Governor Mike DeWine recently appointed his Lt. Governor Jon Husted to fill J.D. Vance’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. Innovation Ohio states: “This decision underscores a continued alignment with corporate price-gougers and further political divisions that threaten the well-being of Ohioans. The appointment raises significant concerns about the direction Senator Husted would take Ohio and our nation.”

“For Americans who may not know Jon Husted, allow an Ohioan to tell you all about him,” said Nick Tuell, Senior Communication Director at Innovation Ohio. “Husted is backed by big businesses that price-gouge us at the supermarket and at the gas pump, while they post record profits. As Ohio House Speaker, Husted eliminated taxes for big corporations at the expense of higher sales taxes on our everyday goods. Jon Husted is a career politician who always backs his big business pals over Ohio working families. He doesn’t care about us, he is only looking out for himself,” wrote an Innovation Ohio press statement.

Not only is Husted backed by big business, he has been involved in a statewide energy scandal and has a long record as Ohio Secretary of State of running questionable elections.

According to Innovation Ohio: “Texts revealed that Husted lobbied for the passage of HB6, a government bailout for FirstEnergy which later revealed to be a pay-to-play bribery scandal orchestrated by former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder.” Governor DeWine signed HB 6 into law in 2019 approving bailouts for the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants. FirstEnergy had secretly sent $1 million to support Husted’s failed gubernatorial campaign. A  federal grand jury indicted two former FirstEnergy executives racketeering charges. Householder was found guilty of racketeering and is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence.

Sam Randazzo, former Chair of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission who played both sides of the fence, was indicted by state and federal authorities for his role in the HB6 scandal and was soon found dead of an apparent suicide. Neil Clark, another lobbyist involved in that flood of illicit money, died, also thought to have taken his own life.

The Free Press reported that Husted, as Secretary of State, was involved in controversial and anti-democratic election practices.

Prior to the 2012 presidential election, The Free Press obtained public records from all 88 of Ohio’s county Boards of Elections (BOE) documenting that between 2008 and 2012 Husted purged 1,092,392 voters from the rolls. Husted and other modern, high-tech Jim Crow politicians used the catch phrase “cleaning up the voting rolls” as an excuse for the purges. Those are code words for racist practices.

Husted continued the practice in 2014 but was foiled from his strategy of mass purging minority, young and mostly Democratic voters. A 2-1 ruling by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals halted various Husted practices including the removal of any voter who hadn’t voted in six years in Ohio, even if they remained at the same address.

Also in 2012, Husted installed secret, uncertified and untested software patches on county tabulators in Ohio’s largest counties. Uncertified and untested software for electronic voting systems were presumably illegal under Ohio law. All election systems hardware and software must be tested and certified by the state before being put into use, according to Ohio Revised Code 3506.05. By unilaterally deeming this new software "experimental," Secretary of State Husted was able to have the software installed without any review, inspection or certification by anyone.

Candidates and the media were not permitted access to these important precinct level election results. A number of potential illegalities surfaced surrounding the way the unbid software contract was awarded and executed. Serious questions regarding the software’s cost and security emerged.

Husted was instrumental in the effort to throw all minor parties off the ballot in 2011. In 2014, under a twisted version of “equality” he limited Ohio’s nine major urban areas to having only one early voting site each, guaranteed to create long lines as it did in the 2004 and 2012 elections.

In a just and democratic society, Husted would be serving time in prison instead of representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate.

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Bob Fitrakis, Free Press Editor, sued Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted to stop the use of secret proprietary software prior to the 2012 presidential election in Ohio.