FIRST ON FOX: Former Democratic Sen.Sherrod Brown is targeting Republican Sen.
Jon Husted over Ohio's growing data center industry in a new campaign ad that features a facility owned by Google — whose corporate PAC and lobbyists have contributed thousands of dollars to Brown's campaigns.The Sept.4 ad features an Ohioan blaming Husted for spearheading "the push to bring data centers to Ohio" and linking their expansion to "higher electric bills."The facility featured in the ad, which opened in Lancaster in 2023, is owned by Google.Campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Google's corporate PAC contributed $20,000 to Brown over his political career.
Brown also received thousands of dollars from individuals who lobby for Google, including two whose firms have worked on permitting, grid reliability and energy affordability issues.WATCH: GOP SENATOR UNLOADS ON 'CREATURE OF WASHINGTON' CHALLENGER IN CRITICAL SENATE SHOWDOWNGoogle's data center in Lancaster, Ohio, is at the center of former Sen.Sherrod Brown's latest campaign ad as questions are raised about past campaign contributions from Google.
(Stephen Maturen/Getty Images ; Mikala Compton/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)"Apparently Google is terrible enough to put in a campaign attack ad, but perfectly acceptable when the political contributions are coming in," Mehek Cooke, a GOP strategist and attorney in Ohio, said in a statement to Fox News Digital."That is the contradiction Brown needs to answer.
If Google’s Lancaster investment is so bad for Ohio, why was Google political money acceptable to Sherrod Brown?"Among the contributors are Google lobbyist Lisa Kountoupes, who donated $3,500 in March, and Google lobbyist Michael D.Smith, who donated a total of $10,200 to Brown since 2017, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The contributions were made to Friends of Sherrod Brown, Brown's principal campaign committee.Kountoupes’s firm, Kountoupes Denham Carr &...