Ohio Senate contest draws rival support from AIPAC and J Street

Ohio’s closely contested US Senate race has become a battleground for two pro-Israel lobbying organizations, with AIPAC supporting Republican Sen. Jon Husted and the liberal J Street backing Democrat Sherrod Brown. The contest could play a pivotal role in deciding which party controls the Senate.

Husted entered the Senate after Gov. Mike DeWine appointed him to replace JD Vance, who became vice president in January 2025. He is seeking to serve the remaining two years of Vance’s term. Brown previously represented Ohio in the Senate for three terms before Republican Bernie Moreno defeated him in the state’s other Senate race in 2024.

Federal Election Commission filings show that Husted received more than $544,000 in individual contributions routed through AIPAC for the general election cycle, following more than $306,000 for the May special primary. AIPAC’s political action committee also gave him $5,000 directly in April. Another $5,000 contribution in February came from a third party through AIPAC, while the Republican Jewish Coalition PAC donated $5,000.

AIPAC spokesperson Deryn Sousa attributed the endorsement to Husted’s support for the US-Israel relationship. In April, he opposed advancing two resolutions from independent Sen. Bernie Sanders that sought to restrict sales of certain military equipment to Israel. Husted also joined the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism that month, having questioned university leaders about Jewish students’ safety a year earlier.

Brown has also supported Israel and Jewish Americans, including opposing advancement of a Sanders arms-sale restriction in 2024. In 2018, he sponsored legislation that would have authorized military assistance to Israel through fiscal year 2028. He spoke about Jewish students’ safety during campus protests in 2024 and warned about antisemitism after a 13-year-old was charged in 2023 with allegedly planning a mass shooting at an Ohio synagogue.

J Street spokesperson Jordan Steinberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that supporters had contributed more than $800,000 to Brown’s campaign, placing him among the group’s three largest recipients of bundled donations. Most came through JStreetPAC, which forwards individual donors’ contributions to candidates. J Street, a frequent critic of Israel’s government, announced in September that it would invest $3 million to defeat selected AIPAC-backed Republicans.

Campaign financing has also fueled exchanges over Jeffrey Epstein. Brown’s advertisements criticized Husted for accepting more than $116,000 from billionaire Les Wexner, a financial client of the late convicted sex offender. Husted spokesperson Tom Evans said the campaign donated all available funds, totaling $34,000, to an anti-human trafficking charity. Husted supported legislation to release Epstein files in November 2025, after supporting the tabling of a disclosure amendment that September.

Husted’s campaign countered by accusing Brown of accepting more than $150,000 from a dozen people named in the Epstein files, including Wexner’s wife, Abigail, Larry Summers and Eric Schmidt. FEC records show Brown received no money from Les Wexner himself. Brown’s campaign did not respond to JTA’s request for comment.

Husted also faced criticism over former staffer Stephen Woytek, whose social media included an SS soldiers’ photograph and a playlist celebrating Rhodesia, The Washington Post reported in September. Woytek rejected Nazi ideology and said his historical reenactment activities were educational, while acknowledging poor judgment. Husted reportedly dismissed him after the newspaper contacted the campaign. Ohio Jewish Communities president and CEO Josh Kramer called the controversy troubling but noted Husted’s action to remove Woytek. Kramer emphasized the organization’s relationships with both candidates and urged attention to Jewish Ohioans’ safety and well-being.