Senate Democrats Block 2 GOP Bills as Ohio's Jon Husted Seizes Midterm Opening

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 19

Senate Democrats stopped two Republican measures in the chamber’s final pre-midterm week: a data center bill pitched as lowering utility costs and a proposal barring lawmakers from stock trading.
Democrats said the data center measure had 0 enforcement teeth and called both votes messaging exercises, arguing Republicans were staging them to create campaign issues rather than pass workable policy.
Ohio Republican Jon Husted sat at the center of the fight, with both parties acknowledging the data center vote could help him in a tight race against Sherrod Brown by letting him campaign on blocked affordability relief.
The clash underscored how the Senate’s late-September session had shifted from legislating to election positioning, with even supporters like Peter Welch reversing course before the floor vote.