U.S. Sen. Jon Husted’s campaign on Monday touted endorsements from 75 Ohio sheriffs, calling it the largest sheriff endorsement haul in state history. Among the names on the list: a Portage County sheriff whose 2024 Facebook posts about Kamala Harris voters drew U.S. Department of Justice election monitoring, an ACLU warning of voter intimidation and removal from his county’s own early voting security plan.

“BOOM: @JonHusted just won the most sheriff endorsements in Ohio history!” the Husted campaign posted on X Monday morning, listing “75 total. All 3 Independents. 1 Democrat.” A paid graphic accompanying the post listed each endorsing sheriff by county. Among them: Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski.

What Zuchowski posted in 2024

On Sept. 13, 2024, Zuchowski posted identical messages to his personal Facebook account and his campaign Facebook account that drew condemnation from the ACLU of Ohio, the Portage County Board of Elections, the U.S. Department of Justice and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

The post read in full: “When people ask me … What’s gonna happen if the Flip - Flopping, Laughing Hyena Wins?? I say … write down all the addresses of the people who had her signs in their yards! Sooo … when the Illegal human ‘Locust’ (which she supports!) Need places to live … We’ll already have the addresses of their New families … who supported their arrival!”

The post was reported by the Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC News and local outlets including WKYC and Ideastream Public Media. DeWine, asked about the post, told reporters the comments were “very unfortunate” and “not helpful.”

ACLU, election board and DOJ all weighed in

The ACLU of Ohio sent Zuchowski a letter calling the post an unconstitutional “impermissible threat” against residents who wanted to display political yard signs and demanded he take it down. Local Democrats filed complaints with the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and federal authorities. The office of Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said the post did not violate state election law.

One week after the post, on Sept. 20, 2024, the Portage County Board of Elections voted 3-1 to remove the sheriff’s office from its early voting security plan. Board member Randi Clites, a former Democratic state representative, made the motion. She was joined by Democratic chair Denise Smith and Republican member Doria Daniels.

“As Board Members we are charged with preventing violence and disorder at the polls, and to conduct a safe and secure election process,” Clites said before the vote. “It is clear by public comments in the past week there is perceived intimidation by our Sheriff against certain voters.”

By mid-October, more than 60 voter intimidation complaints had been filed with the Ohio Attorney General and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. On Oct. 15, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would monitor Portage County’s compliance with federal voting rights laws during early voting and on Election Day, citing “concerns about intimidation resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process.”

Zuchowski deleted, then doubled down

Zuchowski deleted the original post after the ACLU letter. In a follow-up post, he wrote that his comments had been “misinterpreted” and asserted his First Amendment right to express political views.

He went on Fox News to defend the post. “We need to remember where these signs were,” he said, “because when there’s nowhere else to put these people, I look at it as a welcome mat.”

Zuchowski won reelection on Nov. 5, 2024, defeating Democrat Jon Barber by 1,198 votes — 50.7% to 48.7% — according to unofficial results from the Portage County Board of Elections. He had won his first term in 2020 by 12 points.

Husted’s endorsement rollout

Husted was appointed to the Senate by DeWine on Jan. 17, 2025, to fill the seat vacated when JD Vance resigned to become Vice President. Husted was sworn in Jan. 21, 2025, and is unopposed on Tuesday’s Republican primary ballot. The general election in November 2026 will determine who serves the remainder of Vance’s term, which expires in January 2029.

The Democratic primary features former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is the heavy favorite, against Ron Kincaid.

Monday’s rollout placed Husted’s campaign emphasis squarely on law enforcement support. The graphic, marked “Paid for by Husted for Senate,” listed all 75 sheriffs by county across three columns under the heading “Endorsed by Ohio Sheriffs.” The Husted campaign did not single out or distinguish Zuchowski from the other 74 names on the list.

Not the first controversial endorsement Husted has touted

Monday’s sheriff rollout is not the first time in recent months that Husted’s campaign has publicly promoted endorsements from Ohio Republicans with documented allegations or controversial conduct in their backgrounds.

On March 19, 2026, the Husted campaign posted an endorsement graphic on X listing dozens of Ohio House Republicans backing his Senate bid. Among them: state Reps. Gary Click (R-Vickery) and Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria). The campaign reposted the graphic several hours later.

Creech was accused in 2023 by a minor female relative of climbing into bed with her while erect and wearing only his underwear, according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents obtained by the Statehouse News Bureau. Creech admitted to investigators he had gotten into bed with the minor in his underwear but denied the sexual nature of the allegations. Clark County Prosecutor Daniel Driscoll, serving as special prosecutor, declined to file charges but called Creech’s conduct “concerning and suspicious.” House Speaker Matt Huffman stripped Creech of all four committee assignments in May 2025 and asked him to resign; Creech refused and Huffman reinstated him in February 2026.

Click also serves as Husted’s Sandusky County campaign chair, according to a county-by-county leadership graphic the campaign posted on Dec. 10, 2025. In 2023 sponsor testimony for House Bill 68, Click — a former Baptist pastor — told the Ohio House Public Health Policy Committee that “young girls” had described to him in graphic detail what painful sex was like. Click has never publicly identified who these girls were or in what capacity he was discussing sex with them.

Other Ohio Republicans have publicly or quietly distanced themselves from Click and Creech ahead of the May 5 primary. Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy briefly removed both names from his campaign’s endorsement page. U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno was dropped as the headliner of Click’s campaign kickoff. OH-9 GOP candidate state Rep. Josh Williams quietly removed Creech from his own endorsement page before later restoring him. Husted has done none of those things.