ICYMI: Ohioans Rally Against Jon Husted For Threatening Seniors’ Benefits and Protecting Abusive Nursing Homes

ICYMI: Ohioans Rally Against Jon Husted For Threatening Seniors' Benefits and Protecting Abusive Nursing Homes

August 28, 2026

REPORT: Husted's budget plan would force deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare

STEUBENVILLE, OHIO - In case you missed it, Ohioans in Steubenville called out Jon Husted for his record of cutting seniors' health care, pushing massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and protecting the abusive nursing home industry.

Jon Husted championed legislation that would force massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and cast the tie-breaking vote for the largest cut to Medicaid in history. Husted has also protected the abusive nursing home industry after taking more than a million dollars from industry executives and lobbyists.

See For Yourself:

WTRF: Ohio Valley residents voice concerns over Sen. Jon Husted's proposed constitutional amendment

• Alex Taylor, WTRF: A group of Ohio Valley residents gathered outside the Jefferson County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon voicing concerns over U.S. Senator Jon Husted and the future of programs many seniors rely on.

• Taylor, WTRF: Many of those attending were senior citizens, with demonstrators pointing to Husted's proposed constitutional amendment requiring the federal government to balance its budget within ten years. Critics argue a balanced-budget requirement could eventually put programs like Medicare and Social Security at risk…

• Mel Woods, United Mine Workers of Ohio: [Jon Husted is] against Medicare, Medicaid. He doesn't give a darn about the senior citizens and believe me I do. I'm one of them.

WTOV: Ohio union rally targets Husted over benefits for retired mill, mine workers

• Dylan Cleland, WTOV: The rally focused on benefits that protect seniors like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. A number of elected officials, union leaders and speakers were in attendance.
  
• John Saunders, United Steelworkers: This town, this valley has a lot of older people who worked in the mills, worked in aluminum, worked in coal mines. They're there, they're depending on those benefits. Jon Husted continues to side with the other side. We're here fighting for that person that can't fight for their self, but we're here, fighting on their behalf to preserve those benefits.

Steubenville Times Leader: Steubenville rally targets Husted over senior benefits

• 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.

• 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.
  
• 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."

• 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.

• 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.

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