Thune calls Ohio race 'ground zero' in 'knife fight' for Senate while rallying with Husted

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called Ohio "ground zero" for Senate control during a campaign event with Republican nominee Sen. Jon Husted in Lima, Ohio, on Tuesday night.

Following remarks from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Thune praised Oz's work in rooting out waste, fraud and abuse while insisting that Republicans must hold a Senate majority to allow Oz to continue his work.

"That only happens if Jon Husted gets elected next Tuesday. This is ground zero. It seems like it is a lot of election years we come to Ohio, but this literally is ground zero. This is the firewall in the United States Senate. It's the difference between the next two years, President Trump having to deal with Democrats in Congress, House and Senate, where all you'll be doing is investigations," Thune told the crowd.

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Top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., have already signaled an intention to use subpoena power to investigate President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet.

"When people ask what will we do, my answer is simple. We'll use those tools. We'll act like the Congress," Meeks, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Associated Press in September.

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"I tell people that the first thing the House will do, Democrats, if the House flips, is they'll impeach the president," Thune continued Tuesday.

"Well, that will require a trial, some sort of a trial in the United States Senate. And the only difference between a 24-hour impeachment trial in the Senate and a 24-month impeachment trial is a Republican majority," he said.

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Thune then slammed Husted's Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who served as a U.S. senator in Ohio from 2007 until 2025, when he ceded his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno after losing in the 2024 election.

"He proved that to us for 30 years when he was in the Senate, he was a rubber stamp for Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. We got to keep Jon Husted in the United States Senate, folks. It is absolutely, absolutely critical," Thune said.

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Thune continued to sing Husted's praises.

"Jon Husted is as good as they come. He is just a solid, solid human being who is principled, hardworking, smart and solution-oriented. He's getting up every day thinking of things he can do to make Ohio better. He did that when he was here in the state legislature and as lieutenant governor for the state of Ohio. He cut taxes here. Came to Washington, cut taxes there. Allowed you to keep more money in your pocket. Secured the border. We haven't had a person released into the country illegally in 17 months. Think about that, folks," Thune continued.

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He closed his remarks by hammering home how crucial it is for Ohioans to get out and vote.

"This is a knife fight, folks. This is a bare knuckles brawl, and all you have to do is turn on your television and see that. But the stakes couldn't be higher, consequences couldn't be greater. It's just so important that we get this done," he concluded.

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Husted, for his part, reiterated the tight nature of his race, also challenging Republican voters to get to the polls.

"We got work to do because this is going to be a close race. This is going to be a close race," Husted told the crowd. "This is like the fourth quarter of a football game. I can tell you that the other side wants to intimidate us. The other side wants to make you think that we're not going to win. The other side is going to try to make you believe that what you do doesn't matter. What you do does matter. You get into the fourth quarter of a football game, and this is what people try to do. They try to intimidate you the whole game. Everybody has a game plan, but they keep punching you. They keep knocking you down. They want to make you quit. Are they going to make you quit?"

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A recent Fox News survey of likely Ohio voters showed Brown with a slight lead over Husted, with 52% of respondents saying they'd vote for Brown compared to 47% for Husted.

Jeffries, Meeks, Thune, Husted and the Brown campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for further comment.