Democrats speak out
Steubenville rally targets Husted over senior benefits
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Voting to keep Republican Jon Husted in the U.S. Senate would be bad for many Ohioans in general and senior citizens in particular, Ohio Valley Democrats said during a rally held Wednesday in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Organized by the state Democratic Party, participants questioned Husted’s support of legislation they said would lead to cuts in Social Security and Medicare and create the largest reduction to Medicaid in the program’s history.
“I don’t want to see seniors suffer by losing Medicaid if they want to balance the budget on the backs of seniors who already have paid into the system -- our Social Security, our Medicare and, most of all, our Medicaid. You have to jump through hoops to get it, and I am too old to jump through hoops,” Eileen Krupinski said after the rally, which promoted the candidacy of Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Krupinski is a former member of the state House of Representatives. She was elected in 2000 to succeed her husband, Jerry Krupinski, in representing what at the time was Ohio’s 98th District. Jerry Krupinski died in 2024.
Brown is running against Husted in the Nov. 3 election. After spending 14 years in the U.S. House, Brown served three terms in the Senate before losing a re-election bid to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024. Husted and Brown are running to complete the last two years in the term of the seat that had been held by J.D. Vance before he became vice president. Husted was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Mike DeWine in January 2025.
During her presentation, Krupinski said she remembered meeting Husted, who was elected to the Ohio House the same year she was and served on a committee with her.
“After watching him and observing him, I said he was going to go far, and I was right. Not because he had any insightful questions or any memorable or inspirational speeches,” Krupinski said. “My opinion is that he’s an opportunist. He had an act of making himself look more important than he was, and he was always busier than everyone else, carrying loads of papers and rushing here and there.”
She added that Husted and Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming in November were sponsors of the Principles-Based Balanced Budget Amendment, a constitutional amendment that would require a balanced federal budget within 10 years of its ratification. U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, sponsored similar legislation in the House.
That legislation has not been passed, but some organizations, including AARP, have said that a balanced budget amendment would likely lead to billions of dollars in cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
Brown, Krupinski added, supported the Social Security Fairness Act. That legislation repealed provisions that reduced Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, including pensions from state or local government.
Standing up for older Americans is critical, John Saunders said, adding that must happen now.
“I’m here today representing the seniors, the people who worked in the mills and the mines and who are under attack,” said Saunders, who is a staff representative for the United Steelworkers. “As we look around the United States today, seniors can’t afford gasoline and utilities -- anything that takes away from their right to be able to maintain a standard of living. They don’t need cuts -- they need help. They need help immediately.
“If we continue to make these kinds of cuts, we’re not going to have hospitals, we’re not going to have nursing homes and we’re not going to have any of those services that are for people there. This town, this valley has a lot of people who worked in the mills, worked in aluminum and worked in coal mines. They are depending on those benefits. Husted continues to go with the other side.”
Husted’s campaign disagreed with those assessments.
“After 32 years in Washington, Brown and his allies have resorted to lying to Ohio families and fear mongering. Husted has been very clear: We need to protect Social Security and Medicare. In fact, Husted’s vote for H.R. 1 made Medicaid stronger and more sustainable for Ohioans living with disabilities, kids living in poverty and the elderly,” said campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce.
H.R. 1 -- the One Big Beautiful Bill -- included reforms that ensure health insurers are not ripping off taxpayers for the same individuals enrolled in two separate Medicaid programs and included work requirements that targeted able-bodied adults who gained access to the program through the Affordable Care Act, Husted’s campaign said.
National Health Expenditure Projections from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services forecast that Medicaid spending and private health insurance spending are expected to grow 5% per year on average through 2034, the campaign said, adding that Ohio is going to receive more federal dollars than ever for Medicaid recipients and rural hospitals.
There have been no changes to Medicare funding since Husted has been in office, the campaign added.
The state’s Democratic Party questioned Husted’s support in 2002 of House Bill 412. According to an Aug. 17 story in the (Tiffin) Advertiser-Tribune, Husted at that time was one of 45 members of the House who co-sponsored the bill, which made it harder to sue those facilities, the story said. Since then, Husted has accepted more than $1 million in campaign contributions from the nursing home industry, executives and lobbyists, according to an Aug. 13 report by WCMH-TV in Columbus.
“Husted said Ohioans’ work ethic is broken and championed legislation to slash Social Security and Medicare -- and now reporting reveals he protected the abusive nursing home industry that kicked Ohio seniors to the curb after taking more than $1 million from the industry and its lobbyists. Husted sided with special interests over Ohio seniors, and he can’t be trusted,” said Tony Wen, senior communications adviser for the Ohio Democratic Party, who coordinated the Steubenville event.
The WCMH story said that according to recent campaign finance reporting, more than a dozen nursing home PACs or lobbyists have given at least $34,000 so far to Husted’s Senate campaign. Brown’s campaign, the report said, has received $220,500 in contributions from 33 labor union PACs.
“I’m here today because of the chaos that’s been created in Ohio over a senator that we need to put in the office, and one who doesn’t have the ability to hold the office,” said Mel Woods, financial secretary of United Mineworkers of America Local 1304. “Sherrod Brown has all of the ability to hold the office, and he’s experienced. Husted, he’s just under some obligations to gain some financials for himself. He’s against Medicare and Medicaid, and he doesn’t give a damn about senior citizens. If Husted won’t put working families first, we will find a leader who will -- and his name is Sherrod Brown.”
Eddie Abdalla, chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party, said Brown and Husted have taken separate paths.
“Brown has spent his career fighting for working people and standing up for Ohio’s seniors, union members, veterans and middle-class families. He was a strong voice for Ohio in the Senate and consistently made Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits and the interests of working families a priority,” Abdalla said.
“Husted has taken a very different approach in his public career, supporting policies and budgets that would put programs working people depend on at risk,” he continued. “For the people of Jefferson County, these issues are personal. If you or someone you love depends on Social Security, Medicare or VA benefits, you need to pay close attention to where these candidates stand and what their records show. These are not abstract political issues -- they affect the health, financial security and quality of life of people right here in Eastern Ohio.”