Outside political groups have spent tens of millions of dollars on Ohio’s competitive Senate race while workers face planned layoffs at two manufacturing sites in the state. President Donald Trump campaigned Saturday, Oct. 3, at Butler High School in Vandalia, where Republicans are trying to defend the Senate seat and their narrow congressional majority.
Nearly 1,400 workers lost their jobs at the former Navistar truck factory in southwestern Ohio. In Middletown, Packaging Corporation of America planned to lay off about 90 employees as part of a plant closure. A state filing said the company would let most employees at its Baltimore Street plant go on Dec. 1.
Kyle Bos, a centrist and United Auto Workers member who had voted for Trump three times, told the Associated Press he planned to vote for Democrats in November. “Something has to change politically in this country. Seems like it just kept getting worse and worse and worse,” he said.
Campaign Money and Jobs
The Husted-Brown contest ranks as the country’s second-most-expensive Senate race, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Ohio is one of eight Senate races rated competitive. Trump was expected to appear with Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, and other GOP politicians at a rally scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.; the Republican National Committee said Trump would speak at 7 p.m.
Husted, appointed to replace JD Vance in 2025, is running against former Sen. Sherrod Brown. Ohio voters are also due to choose a governor, with those elections one month away. Reuters reported Husted hopes Trump can motivate supporters who might otherwise skip the midterms.
The rally came as gasoline prices in the state climbed 35% over the previous year, reaching an average of $4.16 a gallon, according to AAA. Inflation remained at 3.4%. The Friday jobs report showed unemployment rising to 4.2%, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the United States added 29,000 jobs in September, below expectations.
Retaliatory Canadian tariffs tied to Trump’s trade policy with Canada affect about $3 billion worth of Ohio exports, based on 2025 figures, according to a CBC report. Trump told Texas truck plant workers Thursday: “Everyone thinks that the prices are high because of me, but they’re not.”
Workers, Prices and Government Action
Chris Gibbs, a Shelby County farmer, said Husted had stayed silent as farmers struggled to afford basic necessities. Brown’s campaign sent a mobile billboard outside the rally to criticize Husted over gasoline prices. “Jon Husted voted 14 times for the reckless war in Iran that has caused the cost of gas and diesel to hit record highs,” Brown said in a statement. Brown’s campaign didn’t respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Husted told reporters he expected Iran to seek a peace deal and gasoline prices to fall after the Nov. 3 election. “They want to maximize the pain for President Trump, but they’re also very wary about the consequences,” he said of Iran. “I fully expect Iran is going to want to bring this to an end as soon as the midterms are over.”
Senate Democrats had recently blocked legislation Husted sponsored that would require states to consider making data centers pay for their power. Critics said the bill lacked enough protections for consumers. The GOP-controlled Ohio Legislature fast-tracked legislation to suspend the state’s gas tax for 90 days.
Husted cited Bayer’s plans to build a manufacturing facility in suburban Columbus as an example of Ohio’s economic successes. “There’s more work to do,” he said. “We need to lower prices on groceries, gasoline − there’s no doubt about that. But people don’t want to turn the clock back to what Biden, Harris and Sherrod Brown had to offer.”
Rallies and Opposition
A couple dozen people gathered in a small park a few miles from the school to protest and promote Brown’s race against Husted. The Ohio Democratic Party organized the gathering to criticize Republican policies associated with Husted and Trump and support Kristina Knickerbocker, a Democrat running against Republican Rep. Mike Turner in the Dayton area. Signs read “Husted, we have a problem” and “We the people are pissed.”
Trump’s approval rating in Ohio stood at about 35%, according to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY Ohio Network poll; a Marist poll put him at 42% among registered Ohio voters. Reuters reported Trump won more than 55% of Ohio’s vote in the 2024 presidential election.
At Butler High School, hundreds of supporters lined up outside hours early. American flags lined the road. Food trucks stood near the school. Rueger Harrah, 17, said: “The president of the United States is coming here to our hometown.” Caryn Carmack, 70, of Debary, Florida, said she had supported Trump for 10 years after switching parties because she felt Dayton was struggling and losing homes and jobs. Asked whether things had improved under Trump, she didn’t give an enthusiastic yes.