Trouble is, there’s a fact-problem with Democrats’ swipe at Husted. The General Assembly was only able to pass HB 6 in 2019 because enough Democrats voted “yes.”
Though some of HB 6’s anti-consumer rip-offs have been repealed, the law so has far cost electricity customers of American Electric Power Co., AES Corp. (Dayton Power & Light Co.) and Duke Energy Corp. an extra $450 million – about $446,000 a day – and counting, to cover losses of two coal-burning power plants in which those utilities own stakes.
HB 6, co-sponsored by now-Sen. Shane Wilkin, of Hillsboro, and Rep. Jamie Callender, of suburban Cleveland’s Concord Township, both Republicans, aimed to bail out two money losing nuclear power plants then owned by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., the huge electric utility.
In mid-2019, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, of Cedarville, signed HB 6 as soon as the state Senate and Ohio’s House passed it. But HB 6 – attention, Democrats – became law only because enough Democrats voted “yes.”
In the final Senate vote on HB 6, with a minimum of 17 “yes” votes required, only 16 Republicans voted “yes.” But the final Senate tally was 19-12, after three Senate Democrats voted “aye.”
(Among the senators voting “yes” on HB 6 was Lima Republican Matt Huffman, now the Ohio House’s speaker; among the senators voting “no” was Napoleon Republican Rob McColley, now the Ohio Senate’s president.)
The House’s final vote on HB 6 was 51-38. That was just one vote more than the 50-vote minimum required to pass a bill in the House. That winning margin was thanks to “yes” votes cast by nine House Democrats; House Republicans cast 42.
So, as to HB 6 becoming law, Jon Husted, no matter how palsy-walsy he was with FirstEnergy’s bosses – and he was, plenty – was one of the bill’s cheerleaders, but he personally couldn’t slide it into the Revised Code.
Yes, as Ohio Public Radio and Television’s Statehouse News Bureau reported in 2022, “Text messages suggest ... Husted ... played a role in pushing for the passage of [HB 6].”
Also yes, as cleveland.com’s Jake Zuckerman reported in 2024, “FirstEnergy Corp., at the onset of what would become one of the biggest public corruption schemes in state history, gave a $1 million ‘dark money’ contribution to a nonprofit [Freedom Frontier] backing [now] Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, new records show.”
Husted was then seeking Ohio Republican’s gubernatorial nomination. He later agreed to run for lieutenant governor – as DeWine’s running mate. Their ticket drew 50.4% of Ohio’s 2018 statewide vote to the 46.7% drawn by the Democratic nominee, former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray.
DeWine appointed Husted to the U.S. Senate to replace Middletown Republican J.D. Vance, who resigned to become Donald Trump’s vice president. Husted, to keep the seat in 2027 and 2028, must run for it in 2026.
Meanwhile, Democrats might not care to remember that it’s thanks to the votes of Democrats then in the General Assembly that HB 6 continues to bite Ohioans’ wallets and checkbooks. Hacks in both political parties are fond of saying, “Elections have consequences.” So do facts.
Thomas Suddes is a former legislative reporter with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland and writes from Ohio University. You can reach him at tsuddes@gmail.com.
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