<p class="wp-block-paragraph">President Donald Trump campaigned in Vandalia, Ohio, on Saturday night alongside former NFL coach Jon Gruden to support gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH).</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m from Ohio,” Gruden said. “My Mom and Dad are from Cleveland, I was born in Sandusky, and I went to the University of Dayton, and I’m damn proud of it, man,” Gruden stated at the beginning of the event. He highlighted Husted’s past as a “great” football player at the University of Dayton, emphasizing his “work ethic, commitment, and day-to-day mental toughness.” Trump also referenced Ohio State’s victory over Iowa earlier that day in his speech. The rally primarily focused on manufacturing and investment opportunities secured during Trump's administration since January 2025.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump discussed data centers, a contentious topic in Ohio, as Democrats aim to leverage public concerns about AI to associate Husted with data center development. Trump praised legislation sponsored by Husted that would codify the White House’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which aims to ensure developers “fund the electricity generation and infrastructure their projects require.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Now your great Senator… introduced the Ratepayer Protection Act to prevent data centers from raising electricity costs and require them to pay their own way, it’s very good,” Trump said. “Just three days ago, Senator Husted brought that bill to the Senate floor and almost every single Democrat in the Senate voted to block it; they didn’t want it. Only because we wanted it, probably because I wanted it, to be honest, to be more exact. I think if it was somebody else, maybe they would have said, ‘yes'” Trump added.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Before you know it, this election is over, yes? It’s over. But what we got to do is we got to do our part. Early voting starts Tuesday. Can we be there or not?” Gruden asked, prompting loud applause from the crowd.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ramaswamy, who gained national attention as a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, almost served in the Trump administration before deciding to run for governor of Ohio. Neither Ramaswamy nor Husted currently holds a strong lead over their Democratic opponents, despite Trump winning Ohio in 2024 by more than 11 percentage points.</p>